What's Life Without Music?
by KingNagareboshi
Summary: Zero is just like any other ninja in Konoha; ready to prove herself. Her mother was a foreign woman that married into the Uchiha clan, bringing Lycanthropy into the bloodline. And the Akatsuki want her. But so does Orochimaru, and Konoha won't give up a ninja that easily. As war breaks out between the three, which side will she choose and who will win?
1. Prologue

Hey, there! New story for y'all :D Unless italicized, all things in (parenthesis) are the narrating character's footnotes. If you've ever read the Bartimaues Trilogy, it's pretty much exactly like that.

The first time I faced death was when I was just twelve years old. And no, I didn't react flawlessly. I wasn't a straight-A genin. I slacked off. I had other concerns. I wasn't like my hotshot cousin Sasuke Uchiha. He was the straight-A student, perfect in looks, strategy, physical fitness, jutsu, and pretty much whatever else comes to your mind, any other ninja art. I, on the other hand, was incredibly smart and fit, I just didn't apply myself. Why bother? I was invincible(1. Psh, not really, but you can't argue with anyone from the ages 10-19.)

No, I froze in battle. My team and I were supposed to be escorting Tazuna the bridgebuilder to his home, but somehow we were duped into a mission way above our level. So suddenly appeared a man in a tree. He seemed to recognize Kakashi, my sensei. After a short exchange of words, the man was enveloped in a fog.

The only thing that told of his existence was his voice, resonating as he recited eight different ways to kill a person; throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the subclavian artery, kidney, and, of course, the heart.

I pretty much wet myself.

I don't care if Kakashi declared to protect us no matter the cost- this Zubuza guy was frickin' scary! And I can tell you I really stopped trusting Sensei when he got caught in Zubuza's water prison. Oh, crap. Three genin and an old decrepid man to fight a top-class criminal.

Naruto was the first to move. He attacked Zabuza. Sasuke soon followed and Sakura faithfully stayed by Tazuna's side. I couldn't move. So Sasuke and Naruto released Kakashi, he defeated Zabuza, blah, blah, blah. I'm kinda self-centered(2. Well, this is MY autobiography...) So we managed to get to Tazuna's house, and Sensei recovered enough to tell us that Zabuza was still alive.

I was scared, then. And Sasuke had pretty much disowned me and Tazuna was bashing the female race because of me, But, something had woken inside of me after facing Zabuza... It wasn't some beast, like Naruto, but a kind of excitement. Not a bloodthirst, but a readiness. Not a want to prove myself nor an adrenaline junkie, but calmness and acceptance that I was going to be fighting. And it happended just a few days later.

We had been on the bridge when a fog surrounded us, and Zabuza and a new friend of his appeared. Sakura and I immediately surrounded Tazuna, ready to defend him to the last. Soon enough, Kakashi was disbaled from moving to help Sasuke and Naruto, and Sasuke was soon down.

That's when it happened. It was a joint thing- Naruto snapped, and I felt power tear through me. Black fur erupted from my skin, muscles expanded, fingers and teeth sharpened, lengthened and stregnthened. My eyesight became insanely acute- Oh, the transform felt amazing. And I can gurantee Tazuna would never insult me again.

I roared and took down Zabuza with a tackle, pinning him down with claws and snapping at him. Oh, yes. I was a werewolf.

My name is Zero, and this is my life.


	2. A Warning?

Here we go, Chapter 2! This is about 6 years after the first chapter, and basically the plotline has slowed from the actual series. Sasuke has left to go to Orochimaru, but the Akatsuki are still a pretty quiet group. So instead of the main gening being age 12, for the most part they're chunin and jounin and around age 18. And the word 'Habdama' is gibberish, just an fyi.

-**Uchiha Estate-**

"Hmm... What if I added an F flat...?" I clicked the mouse and changed the key signature and edited a few notes and rhythms. Ha! Take that! One song, done. Humming a different tune, I began to print the song off the computer. "Alright..."

A knock on the door interruppted me. "Zero!" came the short bark. I stood up and answered the door, waiting for a biting remark from the man I knew was outside. Getting out of my rolly-chair, I turned the handle and dreaded the sight I knew was coming.

"Hey, Neji," I greeted. Surprisingly, the biting remark didn't come.

"Report to Tsunade. She has a new mission for you, I believe." I nodded. Sounded legit. "So do something useful instead of blowing air through a pipe all day." _There_ it was.

He took off without blinking an eye. "It's a clarinet, thank you." He was gone. "Douche," I muttered crossly. Grabbing my sword and a ring off my desk, I took a quick stock of the room. Looked somewhat decent. My clothes weren't scattered across the floor of my apartment like usual, my computer would shut off due to inactivity, and there wasn't anything of high worth out in the open. I shut the lights off and locked the door. If I needed to leave the village immediately, all was well.

I slid down the ladder of my home to the path and strolled down the street through the empty Uchiha estate. The small path connected to the main road and led to the gate. Walking under it, I shifted my direction towards the monstrous building in the center of the village that held the Hokage's office.

Soon enough I entered the part of Konohagakure that held the major shops and stores. "Zero!" A voice called.

"Yeah...?" I looked wildly around to see where the voice had come from. Usually there was a Naruto lurking, ready to pounce like a predator on the poor, lost, unsuspecting puppy as it tried to find its way home. :(

Sure enough, a heavy weight carried me off my feet. Dirt sprang up around us and I eagerly tried to kick my enemy away. "Gr'off meh!" I landed a blow and heard a yelp. Oops. "You okay, Naru-?" A paw smothered my question away. My feet were picked up by hands and I was dragged out of the dirt cloud and down the street.

I managed to crane my neck to see a large, white Akamaru staring at me. "Woof."

Kiba was the one dragging me. We were getting some very odd looks from the citizens of Konoha. "Hey, Kiba! As much being lazy is fun, this is really impeding my progress." He began to walk faster. Ouch! Have I mentioned Konoha's road are packed-down dirt and therefore rather rocky? "Habdama!" He let go.

I sprang up and he glared at me. "That's for hurting Akamaru." I looked back at our furry friend. He was smiling contentedly in the doggy way.

"He looks perfectly fine. Was that you yelping?" His face got a bit red. Yep. "I hope you don't make noises like that in bed."

Akamaru let out a barking laugh. Kiba stormed off. "Lovely to see you, Zero," Akamaru said in his deep voice.

"And you, Akamaru," I replied. "Sorry about sending your Master away." Kiba's angry figure quickly disappeared around a corner/ leaving the two of us to continue on our way.

"I've said worse; he'll get over it. But what brings you out of your hole today?"

"Ha, ha, Akamaru," I mocked. Although I _did_ spend a lot of time in my house... "Tsunade sent for me; I think it's a mission. I'm pretty sure. You know, I'm positive it is. She doesn't call anyone for anything else."

He rolled his eyes. "Glad you solved your own doubts. Now, race me to the Hokage's building? I'm bored." His eyes were too pleading.

"Alright!"

He barked and took off. I used chakra and shot off, hot on his heels. The buildings flew by in bright blurs, the only things focusable were the far away things in front of us. I skidded to halt in front of the stairs that wrapped around the Hokage's building.

Akamaru was waiting. He pulled his lips back into a grin. "I win!" He turned around and kicked dirt at me. "Good luck, Zero! Hope you have a good run!"

'Hope you have a good run.' A delightful courtesy between canines; there was nothing more simple and pleasurable than running as fast as one could through a forest. Jumping over logs, paws skimming the ground, trees and undergrowth rushing by... (1. Only thing better is an orgasm.)

I hopped up the long staircase and into the building. Somehow I found my way through the maze of hallways and was able to knock on Lady Tsunade's door. There was an angry, muffled, "Come in!" (2. You know, somehow, despite the thick walls and door of her office, the tone of her voice comes solidly through. It's a wonder of Tsunade. So much anger in one being...)

I hesitantly pushed the door open. Oh, so that's where Naruto had been. He swayed as if some imaginary wind was pushing him, a bump on his head growing and an eye darkening with a bruise.

"Ah, Zero. Glad you're here and sensible." She glared at Naruto, who cowered a bit. Shizune subtly backed away from the Hokage. "I have a solo mission for you, and a warning." Right down to business.

I tilted my head to one side, like a dog, and narrowed my eyes. "A warning, M'lady?"

She nodded. "But first, the mission. You shall be escorting an elderly man by the name of Gin to the Land Hidden in the Waves. It should be fairly easy; he's just a paranoid business man." I bowed my head in acceptance of the mission. Easy enough.

"I'll do it to the best of my ability," I answered.

"Mm, so no doubt you'll do it flawlessly. A jounin and the only true member left of the Uchiha Clan. Speaking of which, here's the warning I have for you." I lifted my head so my eyes could meet hers. Speaking of the Uchihas? Oh, no. Please, no... "Itachi Uchiha has been sighted between here and the Land Hidden in the Waves." Yep. There it was. My cousin the weasel. (3. Quite literally, that's what his name means.)

"I will keep an eye out. If I meet him and it does not endanger Mr. Gin, I will bring my cousin home alive for questioning."

Tsunade nodded. "You're a good person and kunoichi, Zero." She glanced at the ring on my hand. "Please, keep safe and don't overdo it like this idiot." She gestured to Naruto and I hid my grin. He was an idiot, truly, but he was our idiot. He smiled lopsided at me, looking dazed.

"Will do. And I meet Mr. Gin at...?"

She glanced at Shizune. "You're the one who did the paperwork."

"Um, yes..." She shuffled through some papers. "Meet him at the gates at 5 o'clock today. So, right now."

I nodded, a bit panicked. It was already five. The client was gonna hate me... "Bye!" I was gone.

I made it to the gates before Gin did, actually, making me very happy. It wasn't a hate-fest yet! So I turned to the only other human beings there to pass the time; the shinobi on guard duty. "Hey, guys."

The pair glanced up, one smiled, the other looked back down to his papers. "Name?" asked the one buried in his papers. He had a piece of grass sticking out of his mouth.

"Zero Uchiha," I replied, following his finger down the list of Ninja exiting the village on missions.

"Alright." He put a check by my name and wrote down the time. "So an escorting mission?" He looked back up with bored eyes.

"Yep. Gin from the Land Hidden in the Waves." The other shinobi seemed to shyly edge away from my gaze. "What're your names? I've seen you before, but..."

The bored one answered, "I'm Genma. This is Raidou. And you're Zero, as you stated before." He offered a smile. "So Tsunade didn't give you Gin's last name?"

I hadn't thought about that. "Nope," I laughed. "And nice to meet you both," I grinned. Raidou had a scarred face, but somehow it didn't mar his face. He seemed to get a bit red as he noticed me looking at him.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey, girl!" a gruff voice called out. "I'm ready to go!" Turning, I saw an old, tough, weathered man with a kind smile. "I want to go home." Waving good-bye to Raidou and Genma, I obediently went to Gin's side. He gave me one of his two bags, slinging his other over his shoulder.

"I'm Zero, your escort. Pleasure to meet you," I recited and stuck out my hand. Old people scared me, with their experience and wisdom and jugemental attitudes...

"Gin Ryuuga. What's your last name? Just so I can know you a bit better." He began to walk out the gates. I hurried after him.

"Uchiha."

"Ah, so you live in that empty estate near the edge of the village?" He seemed very knowledgeable.

"Yep, that's it. So what do you do for a living?" Normally, these questions were answered before the mission started. But Tsunade had seemed rushed to get the warning about Itachi first rather that the misiion details. Come to think of it- I didn't know what town I was going to. Just the country. Oooh, crap...

"I sell and buy jewlery. I've actually tailored to the Kazekage's needs, before. Not the current one, but his father. He needed the perfect diamond for his wife." Gin smiled, eyes fixed on the pink clouds, lost in memories. You know, I liked this guy. He wasn't in any way like my grandparents.

**-Konoha Gates-**

Genma smirked and nudged Raidou and pointed at the pair walking on the road into the distance. "So, like what you see?" Genma's smirk grew larger as Raidou's face glowed brighter red.

"Shut up, Genma. I didn't see anything special about her. Just a brat, like her cousin," and yet he continued to stare.

"Uh huh... Which is why you're still staring and have such a sudden opinion on her and her cousin?" Genma shifted the grass stalk in his mouth as Raidou turned to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he forcefully told Genma. Genma calmly stared at his friend.

"I didn't mean anything by it, geez. It's alright to check out hot girls, I was just giving you crap." He then turned back to his paper work. All the names but Kakashi's and Naruto's were filled out.

Raidou suddenly spoke, "She was so hot and pretty..."

Genma stifled a laugh. Dear God, he had to get Raidou a girlfriend; his unconcealed staring was ridiculous.

**-Konoha Forest Road-**

It was night, and Gin and I had set up camp a ways off the road, away from bandits at Gin's request. He was a bit paranoid, but not overly. Anyone with the amount of precious stones and metals he had should be worried. We kept the fire fairly small, afraid we might accidently set the woods on fire.

Setting a large bowl over the fire, we put in some ingredients(pretty much whatever sounded good) and hoped the product would be as delicious as the individual ingredients. As we waited for it to cook, we started up our conversations again.

He was a very kind and wealthy man with a son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, and five grandchildren, one of whom was a Shinobi.

"What's his name?" I asked. It would be fun to meet him one day.

"Taho Ryuuga. He's handsome and single," he winked at me. We laughed, but then he caught sight of the ring on my finger and looked completely embarassed. "Oh, my! I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were married!"

I smiled at him. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not anymore." I fell silent. Was that soup done yet...? I got up to check. Anything to distract myself from that awful silence.

Gin looked at the ring a bit longer, deep in thought. "May I ask what happened?"

"Uh, yeah... Soup's done!" I poured some into a separate bowl for him, and another for me. A breeze rustled the leaves of the woods.

**-Konoha Forest-**

"Married? Oof!" The voice was cut off by an elbow to the gut and two shadows swiftly moved away as a breeze picked up. They landed on the road and lay down under a bush to eavesdrop on the pair by the fire.

"You didn't tell me tha-," a foot in the face.

"That's because I didn't know." The second voice commanded respect and immediate silence. The girl by the fire began to tell her story.


	3. Weaselboy

Here goes the next one! :D

**-Konoha Road-**

"This orchestra came to the Leaf Village about two years ago. The Hokage had been trying to put on a formal party or something so the ninja of our village could meet with rich nobles and hopefully get some money that way. So... it was a fundraiser." I paused. Something was shuffling in the bushes. The wind changed direction and brought the scent of a rabbit to my nose.

"He was in the orchestra. I didn't really notice him until afterwards when he was running around searching for his reed. (1. Which had been taken by a few low brass members, characteristically x) He nearly knocked me over when he saw it sitting in a cup and ran for it." Gin laughed at the image. "After apologizing enough that I was ready to stuff his reed down his throat, he introduced himself as William Westra."

"William Westra? The Westras are a family in my village," Gin informed me.

I perked up. Family members? :D "I know he said he came from Sunagakure, but he never said anything about his family."

Gin nodded thoughfully. "I remember them saying they had four kids, but I only remember three of them. Either way, I've interrupted." He turned his gaze to me again, offering his full attention.

I chuckled. "Nah, you didn't. There really isn't much left... We got married about six months ago." Well, I could go on for hours about Will, but that would only make it worse. What is it, Carpe diem? Good thing to follow.

Gin seemed to sense my unwillingness to go on, but his curiousity overtook him. "What happened to him?"

I looked into the fire and realized my soup had gone cold. Dammit! "About two months-,"

_CRACK!_

"What the-!" A kunai flew out of nowhere, targeting Gin's throat.

I let power surge through me, and with a roar that seemed to shake the forest, I deflected the kunai with a claw and sheltered Gin with my arm. He was terrified.

"Z-zero...?"

I glanced at him, trying to look comforting rather than say anything. HUGE mistake. While I looked away, a sword smacked into me and carried us off our feet. I kicked out after I hit the ground and made a connection. I sprang to my feet to see an enormous, muscled, blue man...shark? O.O Wait, am I high...?

_SMACK!_

The shark-man hit me again with his sword, but I took Gin with me when I flew to the ground and then rolled away. Keeping Gin behind an arm, I slashed upwards as a second shadow came at us. I succesfully hit the shadow up and into the trees. Out of the corner of my eye, the shark-man charged me again.

I kicked the sword away. These men's chakra scared me. Shark-man's was an insane amount matching only Naruto's, and the other one had a dealy, calculating and cold feel to it. But their brash attack sequence didn't make any sense. It was far too easy to combat them.

Or was that what they wanted? Me to fight them head on until I ran out of energy? Fending off the shadow again, I turned and grabbed Gin. And then we ran.

I dropped to four legs and pushed Gin onto my back. He was frozen in shock and fear. My ears twitched as they picked up the sounds of the men beginning to chase us. Good.

They were men, I was a werewolf. They were screwed in this race to the finish line, I would be the victor. Grinning, I put on a burst of speed. If we got there with enough distance between us, maybe Gin's village could take him to safety and then we could fight and capture these men.

It was perfect! I was already gaining distance from them! And we were nearly there! Alright, now to just keep this pace and-

Was that Sasuke gaining! No, wait, that was the shadowed man's chakra, not Sasuke's. So, who-

"Itachi!" I cried out and nearly tripped.

That was all he needed. He used his momentum and threw a kunai, nailing me perfectly in the achille's tendon. I yelped and fell to the ground. But I had to keep going. I hopped up and pushed Gin forward. "Run!" I cried out to him. The old man finally seem to come to his senses.

He ran, but he kept glancing back at me, worried about my life. "Keep going! Don't worry!" I shouted. And then I turned on my older cousin.

Roaring, I put all my weight into a paw and clubbed him. But by this time shark-man had caught up; he neatly landed a blow to my head, and the last thing I remembered was Itachi crashing to the ground in sync with my paw and me.

**-Village Hidden in the Waves-**

Gin ran through the gates. "Help!" he shouted as loud as he could, out of breath. A guard at the entrance lifted a spear threateningly at him.

"Identify yourself!"

Btween heavy breaths, he replied, "Gin Ryuuga, a jewler from the next village over. Two rogue ninja are trying to kill my escort!"

But by the time they got to the spot, the only ones standing there were a blonde kid of Zero's age and a silver-haried ninja. Neither had anything to do with the attack. The two ninja and Gin stared at the bloodspots on the ground.

**-Unkown-**

"Damn! That girl's got power!"

Ouch. My head really hurt, and my ankle felt like it was going to fall off. I opened my eyes to try and see the owner of the voice, but my vision swam before me. Ugh, where and what...?

"Hmph," came the reply. That voice sounded familiar.

"Aw, you're just sore 'cause she knocked you out." Knocked who out? Wait... I remembered everything!

I opened my eyes again as the other voice replied coldly, "Shut your mouth, Kisame. She's awake."

I lifted myself to a sitting position slowly, my head throbbing in protest. Groaning, I put my head on my knees until my vision came into focus. Carefully so as not to upset my head or stomach, I glared at Weasel and pulled my lips back into a feral snarl.

"You're not in your wolf form; that snarl looks absolutely ridiculous," Itachi stated without even looking at me.

I let my lips down into a scowl. "Go die, Weasel."

"Not a chance. Then poor Kisame would be all alone."

I looked shark-man and nodded at him as he smiled cheerfully at me. "Good game, you're a far better ninja than he is," I told him. "You have balls while he does not."

He chuckled. "I'm Kisame, nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand. "Never realized there was a decent member of the Uchiha clan."

Itachi rolled his eyes. "And what do you mean by decent? We're all criminals."

"Oh, yes. By the way," Kisame fixed my with his beady-eyed gaze, "You're joining our orgainzation for both research and man-power. Welcome, your only hazing from me is the nasty bump on your head."

I blinked. "Uh, no."

"Too bad, cousin. It's not choice. You are a member of the Akatsuki." Each word of his last sentence was forced out. Itachi then got up. "Let's go, I want to be home."

He began to walk west. "Uh, no. Home's that way." I pointed east, towards Konoha.

"Not anymore." He kept walking.

Kisame began to follow, but stopped an looked at me. "You coming or not?"

"Nope."

He rolled his eyes. "Then you die."

"I know."

He shook his head, then went to grab me with his huge hands. "I can walk!" I leaped up and limped after Itachi. Kisame smirked and followed a few steps behind me.

Our progress was slow due to my injured heel. I was going to try walking on all fours in my wolf form, but Kisame and Itachi wouldn't allow it, for fear I would run off. Grumbling, I did my best not to hinder them.

But then, I realized how stupid that was. If we were slow enough, perhaps we'd be trailed by Konoha ninja and then we could attack the Akatsuki and finish them before the organization could start anything. So I steadily slowed.

No luck. Kisame grabbed me and carried me at a much faster pace. "Much better. I'll let you walk before we get home so you don't get on everyone's bad side." I had to formulate a plan...

We made it into Akatsuki territroy in no time at all. Kisame dropped me(1. Literally x) to the ground and continued to the large house concealed by some sort of justu(2. I'm not very fluent in anything but taijutsu...). Itachi waited for me to get off the ground and catch up to him.

"Now, refrain from judgement until you get to know them well. Otherwise, they _will_ kill you. And then you can't relate any intelligence to the Village." Without anymore words, we stepped(3. Or in my case tripped) up the steps and through the door.

A large entry way greeted me, dyed in warm colours. Sunlight poured in from the windows and lit up the room pleasantly. Not what I expected. I didn't think there'd be corpses lying about and screams filling my ears instead of comfortable silence, but apparently my subconcious had been expecting that.

Itachi removed his sandals and looked at my feet until I did so. I smirked at my quiet cousin. We used to give him so much crap when we were all small... In good fun, of course. He had been a good person then, but now-

Wait, no judgement. I wasn't allowed to judge anyone. It would hurt things more than help. (I love irony; please don't judge my self-preservation.) Well, my not-judging was going well until some orange-masked idiot with a ball came charging into the room, throwing the ball at us and knocking over a vase of flowers.

"TOBI!" I heard a man scream.

Oh, dear.

The masked man, Tobi, apparently, ran out of the room. A rather feminine man with long, blonde hair came into the room. "Where did he go? Where's that ball?"

Itachi pointed in Tobi's direction, I reached down hesitantly and grabbed the ball, tossing it to the man. He took off. On the second thought, I didn't really know what to make of all that. It definetly was not anything like the stereotypical criminal lair...

"Come with me," Itachi commanded. I followed down a hall, past a kitchen, down another hall, up a flight of stairs and down another hall, stopping at the front of large, heavy door. "This is where you can contact our Leader. You know who he is, right?"

I shook my head. "I do not know the name." We only knew of his, Kisame's, and Orochimaru's former association with the organization. Their intentions were unclear. It was a dangerous and very secretive organization. But I wouldn't let them know that.

"Adress him as either Leader or Pein-sama." With that, Itachi knocked on the door two times, waited a few seconds, and then walked in, me behind him. We entered a cozy, carpeted room with a desk, window overlooking a lake and a garden, and couch situated near a shelf of books. A man sat at the desk, covered in peircings with flaming orange hair and spiral-like eyes. "Pein-sama, Kisame and I captured Zero but were unable to kill the witness she was with."

The man nodded. "Thank you, Itachi. I appreciate your efforts. I will give you further instructions in a bit. As for right now, I would like to question our new member." He turned to me and looked into my eyes. A challenge of authority. First to look away lost. I stared as stoically as I could back.

It didn't last long.

His essence demanded authority, his stature solid, his emotions cool and collected, his chakra dark and powerful. There wasn't any questions of him being the Alpha. "Leader, sir." I quietly acknowledged, looking at the floor in defeat. And he didn't gloat over his victory; in fact, he seemed to accept me into their organization as if I had been there the whole time, or as if I had gone missing and they were happy to find me and bring me back. But I was still afraid.

"Your name is Zero, correct? And you are of the Uchiha clan?"

I nodded.

"Zero, I can sense your fear. Don't worry. You can look up." I looked up at him. He offered a smile. "Now, we'll give you about a month to get used to the routine here before sending you off with a partner on missions. You should get to know everyone during that time, and any rebellious actions will be dealt with. I will talk to you later, but until then, Itachi will show you to your room.

"And before you go, what exactly do you like to do in your free time?"

I was taken off guard by that question. "Uh," I squeaked, then cleared my throat and answered, "I enjoy music, sir."

He smiled like a child who had done something right and nodded to Itachi. He tapped me on my shoulder and led me out the door. We shut it quietly. "Alright, you'll have your own room downstairs near the kitchen. I am sorry."

I was a bit confused. But we reached my room with no problem, and upon opening it, I found my clarinet awaiting me. Rushing to it, I took it up in my arms and examined it. "How did-"

"The lock on your room was awfukl in Konoha," Itachi said, staring boredly at something along the wall. I glanced over and grinned. That was a lovely trombone, with the initials I.U. engraved on the bell and gleaming as if recently polished. "I don't play any more. It's yours."

I looked at him for a few moments. Why was he being so nice? Didn't he kill our whole family? "Thank you." I tentatively walked over to him and put my arms around him in a hug. He gently returned it.

Then he awkwardly opened his mouth and closed it. He looked at the ring on my finger then at me. Then he left.

My stomach dropped. William... Everything seemed even darker now than right after he was... I sat on the bed and just stared out the window and into the beautiful, pink sunset that reflected off the lake and matched the colour of flowers directly beneath my window. Liam...


	4. Day One

Well, the next morning, after I had put both thoughts of Liam and then myself to sleep, I found out why Itachi had apologized for my room adjacent to the kitchen.

"TOBI! Give. Me. My. Donut."

"But, Deidara-"

"I don't care how hungry you are, that one is mine, hmm? Give it here."

I groaned and pulled a pillow over my head. Pots and pans were crashing together, and someone was hitting the walls rythmically but loudly to music. Since I was already awake, there was no point in trying to go back to bed, so I prepared myself mentally for the day. Scratching my cheek, I readied myself to talk to strangers. And get to the bottom of Tobi; this whole yelling at him was beginning to become annoying. And I figured if I was getting annoyed, the ones who had had to live with them for a much longer time probably hated their guts. I just wanted to get to know everyone so I could know what was completely out of line to say and what wasn't.

Hunger driving my actions, I swung my legs to the edge of the bed, and sat up. I yawned, turning into a werewolf for a split-second as a side effect. It just happened. I really have no clue as to why, and I've just sort of figured that I never will. Finally, I crossed the room, patted down my hair, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, took a deep breath, and turned the knob.

I opened it to see the feminine man from yesterday walking by, grumbling. Then he saw me and turned. His yelling must have been successful, for in his hand was the One Donut. He nodded. "Morning. I'm assuming you know where the kitchen is, hmm? Watch out for the masked idiot from Hell."

I wasn't entirely sure what to say to him so I smiled.

"I'm Deidara, by the way." And with that, he was gone. So I resumed my original quest to find some breakfast. Turning into the kitchen I came face to face with the masked-man Tobi, and standing farther into the kitchen was a woman with long, blue, hair.

"Hullo, friend!" Tobi exuberantly greeted. but he didn't stay, instead he went the direction of Deidara, calling out his name cheerfully.

I again continued the dire mission of food and sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter, near the donuts and a stack of plates. The woman smiled kindly. "Hello, Zero. It's nice to see you up and looking well. I apologize for Deidara and Tobi, but they'll never stop."

I noddded in understanding and shyly spoke, "It's nice to meet you, what's your name?"

She stuck out her hand and replied, "Konan. And it's a pleasure to meet you, too. And finally, a girl to talk to," she laughed. I took her hand and grinned. So far, so good. No enemies, everyone seemed nice enough and easy to talk to and get to know. "Feel free to take a plate and donut. I'm sure another one of the boys will be down here shortly, so take your pick while its there and, depending on who comes down, enjoy the peace."

I did as I was offered and took a glazed donut. Before I could finish my first bite and ask Konan what usually happens as far as morning routine, but a red-head male entered the room, throwing shyness over me again. Konan waved to him, and he just returned an acknowledging nod.

"Sasori, this is Zero, the new recruit." He looked at me and nodded.

"Pleasure to meet you," I spoke. He seemed to be a very quiet man. Nothing wrong with that, but it was very welcomed after meeting Tobi and Deidara.

And then Itachi walked in, too. Both him and Sasori took plates and a donut each, Sasori sitting next to me and Itachi next to him along the counter. All was quiet. I finished my donut. Konan took it from me before I could move to out it away and began to wash it. "Thanks, Konan."

She just smiled. After drying the plate, she put it away in a cupboard and asked, "Do you think you could play a little music for us later?"

I was caught off guard, but I replied, "Sure, of course." I enjoyed playing music :D

Sasori seemed to perk up enough to speak. "Music? May I ask what you play?" His voice was pleasant and smooth.

"Uh, clarinet, trombone, trumpet, piano and saxophone."

"You forgot the ukelele," Itachi added.

"And he plays a mean mandolin," I announced. He hid his face and groaned. Sasori's lips twitched towards a smile. Itachi, musical?

"I broke almost every string the first time."

Konan laughed. "I had no idea music was a part of Uchiha Clan. Were you all musically inclined?" The past tense sort of surprised me, but I shook it off. We were a thing of the past, and you know what? I didn't think it was a bad thing.

Both my cousin and I shook our heads, but Itachi was the one who replied. "Zero's mother married into the Uchiha clan, and she brought a musical background with her. Most looked down upon the carefree manners of it, mainly my parents, but I do admit, the first time you succeed in making it you can't go back. It's addicting, and brings much joy."

Sasori was looking at me now with interest, his brown eyes sparking. "Do you sing, as well?"

I shrugged. "A little, but it's very rarely in tune. Care to hear?"

He chuckled. "No, thanks."

Konan and Itachi were staring with a form of surprise on their faces. Well, Itachi was just looking at Sasori with a slightly squinted eye, but that was good enough to count as an emotion for him. Sasori drew my attention away and pointed out my ring. "Married?"

I stared at it, memories welling up. "Uh, was."

He seemed to take it either as a satisfying answer or he was just being polite enough not to drag up all the details. But Itachi wouldn't take his eyes off it. Konan seemed to sense the painful memories behind it, and looked as if she wanted to do something about it. Changin the subject off of me, I asked, "So what goes on today? Anything I should be prepared to help with?"

Konan shook her head. "Not today. I'll just show you the house. Usually there's no structure to the day unless there's a meeting or something of high importance to be done." I nodded. Sounded pretty relaxing.

Sasori got up from the counter and took Itachi's dish and the washrag from Konan. "I'll man the kitchen, you lot can go."

"Thank you, Sasori. It's much appreciated," Konan gratuitiously replied. She motioned to me and I followed her out.

Itachi followed, too, and stopped next to me, looking as if he wanted to ask something. Then he left, not saying a thing. I didn't think much of it. He was quiet and not a sociable as some, whatever he needed to say or ask would come in due time.

Konan looked at me hard, as if judging a reaction. Then she softened her gaze and said, "C'mon, I have a few things to talk to you about before I show you the whole house. Come to my room." She escorted me down the softly-carpeted hall and into a room at the end. She opened the door and let me in first.

I really enjoyed looking at it; it was a beautiful room of blues and matching purples. Very calming and reassuring. Konan's bed was stiuated in the corner, a bed-side table next to it with a lamp, and at the foot of her bed a shelf with a load of books and a dresser adjacent, too; a couch was seated across from a TV, and, despite all of that for a bedroom, it was comfortably roomy.

Konan said, "Have a seat on my bed." I did as I was told and sat down on the soft bed. So soft... I wanted to jump on it. "I'm sorry to ask, but your marriage, what happened?"

I stayed silent and stared at the floor. Then I sighed. "I married a man about six months ago, and about two months ago he was... well, I believe he was killed... But as to who did it, there's not even a suspect. Or a real reason as to why." I felt an arm around me and smelled Konan's already familiar and motherly scent. I felt a tear track down my cheek.

"I'm sorry, I just had to know before the others asked and relentlessly tormented you for an answer."

"That's fine," my voice broke and Konan embraced me. "I understand."

She stroked my hair gently. Konan was all kindness, I hadn't known her for a full hour, but it felt like I could tell her anything and she to me. I knew I could never betray this soul. It was too kind and pure; well, as pure as any soul that kills regularily can be. She was a great person.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I hesitated. Telling it would mean depression and tears. But, maybe that would take some of the sadness away, sharing it with a friend. No one else beside Gin and Konan, now, had every asked about Liam. So I nodded. "Thank you, Konan." And I began, telling every little detail I could remember of William Westra, bringing them to life in both my words and heart, clasping them forever, deep in my heart. Yes, there were lots of tears, but there was also lots of shared laguhter and affection. It felt so good to share Liam with somebody. I felt... relieved.

And then I was done. Konan hugged me tight. "Thank you for telling a nosy person like me. I hope you feel better, and know that I will always be here for you."

I returned the hug. "Thank _you,_ Konan. It felt great to just share that with someone. And when I say this I sincerely mean it, I'll be here for you, too, like a dog always is for their master."

Konan held me at arms' length. "I'll come to you when need be." She smiled big. Then she sobered up slightly. "Another thing, what do you think of Sasori?"

I blinked. "Uh, quiet? Quiet like Itachi, but he seems smart and fun to be around."

Konan looked my face over, as if in conflict, then relaxed. "I agree with you, he is quiet but smart, and funny when he wants to be." She almost looked as if she wanted to say something, but she just stood. "So, ready for the tour?"

I leaped up, energy coursing throught me after the catharsis of Liam. "Yeah! And thank you again, Konan." If I had been in my wolf form, my tail would have been wagging a mile a minute.

By the time the tour was done I knew the general layout of the whole house and only got lost once or twice when Konan played the game _Find Kisame!_ It was a fun game- he wasn't pleased to have wolf stalking him completely conspicuously in the open.

Finally at the end, Konan showed me to a huge room, with a grand piano in the center. I nearly crapped my pants in excitement. She left me to my own devices while she seeked out Deidara for his requested sparring session and regrouped with me to go outside.

Naturally, first thing I did was sit at the piano. I started with a few simple scales and warm-ups. Ooh, it was beautiful. Smiling at the sound of the gorgeous piano, I began to play Beethoven's _Moonlight Sonata._ There was a soft rustle of clothes behind me and a small flash of red, and I yelped, played a blatantly wrong chord and knocked over the piano bench in my startled jump.

It was Sasori.

"S-sorry!" I quickly bent over to pick up the bench, but he placed a hand on my back.

"Don't worry about it, that was entirely my fault; let me fix this." He let his hand fall and then easily hoisted the bench into its normal position. "What was that piece? It was... pretty."

"Um, it was Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata." I felt uncomfortable after his touch. The way he had made it didn't seem like a typical... friendly touch. But he had turned back to the piano and was staring at it as if it could produce the sound from earlier on its own.

"I'm sorry to ask after I startled you so badly, but do you think you could play it again? It was enjoyable."

I shook off the uncomfortableness and concluded it as me being weird and nodded. Popping a squat on the bench, I began to play the delightful song again, feeling the calmness and reassurance of something entirely familiar. Sasori sat next to me, watching my fingers. Soon his eyes were closed in appreciation. Or torment. One or the other, though my guess is that it was the former, simply because it was Beethoven.

Deidara and Konan entered the room, listening to the music. I finished. Sasori smiled. "Thank you," he spoke and left.

"Zero, could you teach me, hmm?" Deidara asked, his demeanor like that of an excited 6-year-old.

I nodded. Konan told me, "That thing has been sitting there for years untouched. You're welcome to play it whenever, both of you."

Deidara grinned, and I imitated the expression, already liking this fella, too. First day, and the only fault was Tobi. Me gusta! :D

The three of us exited the house and traveled through the woods towards a lake, the air heavy with the scent of li'l woodland creatures and blooming flowers. Sun shining bright, the temperature cool and not a cloud in the sky. It was a delightful spring day. Colours were exploding across my sight, cheerfully calling for good-natured play. Today was a day to simply be happy.

We reached a clear spot near the water. Deidara groaned. He whispered to me, "Hide, Zero. Zetsu's here, he might eat you." Konan glared hard at Deidara, who flushed with embarrasement at being heard. Oops.

"Where is he?" I asked.

Deidara opened his mouth to answer, but Konan cut across him and pointed Zetsu in a much more polite way, I have no doubt. "He's right there, in the bushes. In the ground."

Oh! I spotted him now, emerging from the earth without and dirt on him. Oh... He was half jet-black and half pasty white, like an oreo, and around his head was what looked like a venus fly trap. Was I frightened? Nonsense! I had seen bugs come out of Shino, there was no way this could creep me out more than that.

Zetsu emerged completely, and Konan called him over. "Zetsu! The new recruit is here, come meet her!"

Doing as he was told, he came in all his plant glory to us. I expected to feel slightly alarmed by his presence, but he felt entirely familiar and normal, like any other animal or plant in the wild. I could be completely honest with him. Well, wolfy-side honest.

"Hello, you're Zero?" the white half asked. I nodded and smiled.

"Doesn't matter, let's eat her." The black half growled.

"Can I pee on you?" I swear it slipped out! My wolf was itching to mark its new territory, and this guy could be a walking marker! Konan was staring at me, shocked, and Deidara looked as if he might implode from holding in laughter.

The black half let out what was a chilling laugh, but judging from his voice, it was a hearty laugh. "You're in tune. I like it." The white half blinked, then grinned. And then Zetsu was gone.

Deidara let his laughter ring out. "Dear God! You're a funny person, Zero! Even if you are related to that bastard Itachi."

Konan shook her head. "C'mon, you two. Let's do some sparring. And Zero, I want you to show us your moves since we don't know anything about you in action."

"In action?" Deidara did a pelvic thrust. I grinned.

"I'll show you action."

"Bring it!" The blonde retorted, expression entirely cocky. The sparring session had begun.

Deciding to give it my all right away so we could work on individual things immediately after toady, I let the energy course through me and all my weaknessess felt to melt away. Ooh, this form felt amazing after a day.

Deidara's blue eyes widened as I roared, raising my silver paw to strike. Konan grinned. "This is what Pein was talking about." Snapping to his senses, Deidara moved, and moved fast.

He was airborne on a- clay bird? What? I stared at him. Clay couldn't hurt me. I spun around and leaped up a tree, springing off a branch and barreling into the bird, nearly knocking Deidara off. As I hung on for dear life, scared to let go off the bird for fear of falling, I felt something similar to a spider crawl up my back. Looking, I saw that it was. Wait- it was a clay spider.

I seized it with my mouth and flung it off, to hear Deidara yell and watch the spider explode. O.O Exploding clay- good. Immediately, I let go of his bird. Landing on the ground, I drew a deep breath, summoning power.

I shot fire out of my mouth, Deidara maneuvering out of the way just in time to avoid it. But too late. I had jumped again and he moved right into my jump- I knocked him off his bird. I made sure we landed safely, me under him to soften his blow. Bad idea. Spiders were crawling all over me. "Aagh!"

Panicking, I grabbed the nearest and shoved it into Deidara's mouth. Konan burst out laughing. But there were spiders everywhere! While he was distracted, I ran a safe distance away.

He was glaring. "That was my art!"

Our sparring continued until the sun was setting, and it felt great. Konan nodded approvingly at both of us, a proud gleam in her eyes as Deidara dismounted his giant bird and I transformed back into a human. Deidara and I shook hands.

"That was great, thank you, Deidara!" My muscles were a bit sore and my arm was burning where a cute little clay ladybug had exploded, but it was all minor and was welcomed if it meant haveing that great of a training session.

"Thank you! Not exactly what I was expecting from a Leaf Ninja, hmm? You're a fine fighter." He looked over to Konan pleadingly. "Take a word with Leader and let her be my partner?"

Konan smiled apologetically. "I would, but you know very well that Zetsu can't have a partner and that Sasori would kill Tobi before the day was over.

Deidara grumbled crossly. We turned and headed back to the lair for dinner. As we returned, I began to feel guilty for two reason. One, I had betrayed Konoha. I didn't think there was any possible way to hurt the Akatsuki; they seemed like a family. Two, there was no doubt that me betraying the Akatsuki was a large possiblility. But, I made myself forget the guilt, at least for a while. There was nothing I could about any of it now, so I'd just make the best of everything, especially when it seemed like the very best had been put in front of me.

We ate supper, I sat next to Kisame and Itachi, Deidara and Sasori across from me, and I went to bed with a full stomach and some new, awful jokes. Oh, dear, Neji might hate me even more when I get back ;) Er, if I get back... I missed Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura.


	5. Hidan and Kakuzu

Lady Tsunade rubbed her brow, thinking hard about the right decision. All the decisions had important, dangerous factors that could not be ignored; Leaving her would mean possible spilling of secrets and death. Rescuing her would mean possible death of other. No, definite death. And negotiating? Who had ever heard of negotiating with a terrorist group? It doesn't work- they'll use threats and demonstrations of violence to get what they want.

She looked up at Naruto and Sakura. Both looked hopeful, concerned, determined and sad all once. Oh, this would be a difficult decision.

"She's been missing for a month... As far as we know from her client's description, captured by the Akatsuki." The two nodded. "She's the last loyal Uchiha. She's a werewolf. She's important and close to you." Tsunade closed her eyes.

"Granny," Naruto pleaded, "please let us find her; we can't lose her like we lost Sasuke."

Sakura backed him up. "We'll do anything."

Thinking, she finally opened her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's too risky to send someone in specificly for her." They deflated. "But, I am sending you two both west out of Konoha's territory to escort a musician named Eric Whitacre. Keep a lookout. If there's anything we know, it's that she wouldn't miss a performance of his for the world. You'll find her."

Sakura bowed, Naruto just shot out the door, shouting a "Thanks, Granny!" Tsunade sighed. She hated that nickname. In fact, she would like to punch him every time he called her that; but currently, that wouldn't help this situation or their emotional state at all.

Once outside, Naruto looked up to the clouds. "We'll find you, Zero."

**-Akatsuki Base**

The next three weeks passed by considerably fast, and I felt completely at home. I had met everyone and gotten to know them decently; well, except for Kakuzu and Hidan, who had been away on a mission for considerable time. There were connections between them all that someone from outside wouldn't expect because of all the Akatsuki's cruel, violent, and, honestly, false visage; they were more like a family than any other family I had ever seen.

Konan and Leader Sir might as well be married, Deidara and Sasori were art nuts, Tobi seemed to just have a hyperactive need for attention, Zetsu had had a terrible past in an abusive freakshow until his first true friend had taken him away, Itachi was painfully and steadily going blind and Kisame was always at his side. Though they would say some pretty rough things to each other, they were a very close-knit group.

I was becoming close friends with Deidara and Kisame, Itachi and I were achieving the same relationship from before he killed our family, Konan was even closer than my mother and I had been, Leader Sir commanded deeper respect than Lady Hokage, Tobi was a child to watch out for, Zetsu and I together filled the fridge with food, and as for Sasori, he was still a mystery. We were friends and could talk and do things together, but he was so fricken awkward sometimes!

"He," as Konan had put it, "doesn't... feel emotions as readily as the rest of us." Then Kisame had winked at me, to which Konan had fixed him with a silencing gaze. Then she had said, "Don't rush into anything. Not before you're ready." I had no idea what she meant.

Well, I'd let that problem slide to the back of my head. No need to worry. Time would solve it, I was sure.

Today, I was running around in excitement, trying to loose all my energy productively and pass the time quickly into tomorrow. I was getting my first mission! But, that would bring problems, too, like my loyalty issue and decision to run or not. I mean, I had the location of the Akatsuki's whereabouts. Plan an attack, I know the weaknesses of all their jutsu, I could direct Lady Hokage to their weaknessess.

That's what Leader Sir would be expecting, though.

The loyalty issue... I couldn't betray these guys, I desperately wanted their approval. Sure, they trusted me at home, but in battle? That was another question.

Thinking everything over, I decided that it wouldn't be a bad thing to just wing it and see how it goes. Leaping at every chance to escape would be stupid. I'll just do the mission. If an opportunity rises, I take it. If not, I don't. Simple as that.

Deidara eyed my handiwork in the kitchen as I washed all the dishes- twice. He sat on a stool and leaned his face on a cupped hand, his blue eyes sparking in amusement and his mouth twitching. "Excited, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

He tilted his head. "Want to do something more fun that washing dishes?"

I narrowed my eyes. "What kind of fun?"

He rolled his eyes. "Explosive, destructive, implosive, obliterating, illegal fun, of course. What else would I ask for?"

I thought hard about it. "...Sex?"

He left without a word. I grinned and followed, shifting to my wolfish self, anticipating danger and clay bits. Fun with Deidara turned into some of the best days, especially when it involved other poor, unsuspecting victims like Kisame or Tobi.

He led me to the great outdoors. It was a cloudy day. Each cloud blended with the next but seemed to individually threat a torrent of rain. I licked my lips. Secretly I wanted it to rain soon so that I could roll around in some mud today; it had been far too long.

Suddenly a bomb went off next to me. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I narrowly escaped some serious scarring.

"Stop daydreaming and hop on!" Whoops, Deidara had already boarded a giant bird of his. He motioned to an empty spot next to him. "C'mon!"

I hopped up. Ooh, the bird felt squishy! I plopped down and rolled around, barking with delight. "Hee hee!"

"That is NOT very wolf-like, Zero. What would your mother think?"

I pounced on him. "She'd probably ask if you were gay."

He shoved me off and flicked my nose. "Bad dog." I tugged on his leg as the bird began to flap and take to the sky. "Dogs shouldn't be allowed to question sexuality- I've seen them hump more things than I've ever seen a human."

I sputtered a laughing "Woof!" It was so true x) But I wasn't a dog :'( So I said, "Woof."

With that, Deidara dropped a bomb. I yelped, turned human, and clung to Deidara as trees splintered below. He laughed. "True art!"

He opened a bag strapped to his leg and told me to grab a handful. So in went an empty hand and out came one filled with clay birds and insects; it radiated with power. "They'll explode on impact."

"Ooh!" I chucked one. Not thinking before I threw it, it hit a tree top a bit too close.

"You idiot!" the bird sharply swerved; only a couple pine needles hit us. "Think next time!" He shook his head in exasperation, then threw one and made the same mistake I did.

"Look who's talking!" I retorted.

"Shut up." :D

"Let's go fishing!"

The bird veered sharply, nearly throwing me off- but don't worry; I still had a firm grip on Deidara's cloak and almost took him with me. A few seconds after that clumsy episode, we were gliding over the lake. We both dropped little clay bombs at the same time.

BOOM!

Fish everywhere! I reached a hand and managed to catch one by the tail. Deidara was laughing hysterically(it was quite frightening, actually) and had thrown his arms wide in a glorious image, water raining around. He so crazy...

"DEIDARA! WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU DOING!"

That was a new voice. It sounded young, rough and confident- perhaps even pessismistic and rash, if one can get that out of such a short, straightforward sentence. I was a bit scared to meet this person. The swearing must mean it was Hidan, and that meant that Kakuzu wasn't far behind; the zombie pair was here.

Deidara glanced back at me. "Let me apologize in advance for Hidan." The bird maneuvered and hovered over a spot where two new people appeared out of the explosion of water and fish. Deidara pointed at me,

"Zero, the new recruit."

I waved and grinned sheepishly. Call me crazy, but meeting S-class criminals for the first time on a friendly basis was a bit awkward and almost frightening. Looking them over, this conviction was fortified.

Kakuzu had green eyes like a cat's. As well as being covered by the Akatsuki uniform cloak, he had a hood thrown up to cover his hair and ears and a mask was covering his mouth. Just barely I could see tons of stitches lined up near where the mask ended. That appearance wasn't too odd, given the ninja status. But the stitches and eyes set me on edge, and then his quiet, critical, ominous air about him was enough to even make the stout-hearted Aragorn quiver.

Hidan seemed laid-back with his cloak buttoned down to reveal his chest, but once again, the eyes were just creepy. They were purple, almost matching the colour of his face. Anger was flowing off of him in waves and he looked about ready to explode and have a stroke. His blonde hair was slicked back. A giant two-blade scythe was situated on his back.

"I don't give a damn, what the f*** were you doing?"

I pitifully offered, "Fishing?" and held up the fish I had caught.

Hidan sneered. "Shut up, b****."

Deidara rolled his eyes. He pulled the fish out of my hand. "Shut up, Hidan. And then it suddenly appeared on Hidan's face with a _splat._ When I didn't think Hidan's face could possibly get any more red, it did. "You two little-"

"Hidan," Kakuzu quietly cut in, "you're doing a dishonor to the Akatsuki by presenting yourself in such a way to the new recruit. Either shut up and go home or shut up and stay." Hidan yelled something unintelligble and shot off, leaving a trail through the forest as he destroyed trees and helpless animals in his rage.

"Sorry, you two. Our last bounty went to crap and it was a painful escape from a group of ninja. Hidan's been feeling some effects from a poison." The three of us traveled more slowly in the same direction.

"Poison?" I asked. Was he alright?

Deidara nodded. "Makes sense why his face was so red." Then he saw my face and laughed. "He's immortal, don't worry. We've chopped his head off so much!" I felt a bit more relieved.

Kakuzu turned his stare to me. "I'm Kakuzu, by the way. You're Zero. What does the Leader see in you?"

The blunt question sort of took me by surprise, but before I could even begin to stumble for words, Deidara replied, "She's a werewolf."

He nodded, a sort of interest sparking in his eyes. "Zombies and werewolves. What is this earth coming to?"

Deidara chuckled. "Zombies, werewolves, and giant nine-tailed foxes. Seems normal."

The rest of the small journey was pretty quiet, Kakuzu not being much of a small-talker. When we neared the house, after jumping off the clay bird, we heard the clattering of dishes as Konan prepared supper. Tobi was sitting in the garden, playing in the dirt. Deidara was gone before Toni could see him. I held back a chuckle.

I reached the door first and held it open for Kakuzu, who nodded his thanks before heading straight up to Leader's room. I paused to take off my shoes. Delicious cooking meat wafted to my nose and pulled me into the kitchen. Ooh, meatloaf... Meatloaf coming out of an oven... Om nom...

"Calm yourself, cousin," Itachi dryly remarked. Konan giggled, I hadn't even noticed Zetsu next to me, but Itachi was looking a bit weary of our hungry staring. Apparently Zetsu and I were the only respectable carnivores here.

Then Konan spoke up, "Zero, sorry, but you'll need to go see Pein before you eat. For your mission tomorrow." Aww :(

"Alright!" I shot off up the stairs, eager to get back. I stopped outside Leader Sir's door and knocked gently.

"Enter." Muffled, but the command was there.

I entered the room as told, averting my eyes and staring at anything and everything but Leader Sir. Kakuzu was in the room, too. Leader looked at Kakuzu and kindly told him, "Go rest. I can get more details later."

Kakuzu mumbled a relieved "thanks" and walked out, his shoulders drooping much more than they had been before. Leader then transferred his full attention to me.

"Tomorrow's your first mission. Be ready to go by 6:00, meaning be out the door with everything and the Leaf Village's Symbol crossed out. Sasori and Hidan will be with you, Sasori will give you the details then. Thank you for your time, and now let's go eat."

I heard his stomach growl and grinned. Eagerly, but with respect, I bounded in front of him and grabbed the door from him, hungry but keeping in mind that the alpha always eats first.

Oh, how good meat is. Meat and missions.


	6. The First Mission

**Sorry it took so long to update, but here we go! :D**

**6:00 am, outside Akatsuki Headquarters**

I was the second on the doorstep out of the three of us going on the mission; the other was Sasori. He nodded his greeting. "I'll fill you in once Hidan arrives." A light drizzle was falling from the grey sky; Sasori had placed himself near the house and out of wet's way. The roof overhung the doorstep a little bit, so I too squeezed under it. Even if I didn't mind being wet I didn't want a cold before the mission began.

The seconds ticked by. I was tired and not in the mood to speak, especially with the prospect of Hidan's company. He had been in a bad mood because of his mission yesterday, I know, but I had a feeling that waking up at 6:00 was going to have about the same reaction from him.

The seconds turned into minutes. Sasori's eye twitched. 6:15. "Where is he?" Sasori growled.

6:20. "I can go get him," I offered. Sasori nodded his permission. Dreading the thought of possibly waking Hidan up, I stalked into the house, quiet as possible. There was no way I wanted to wake up the other members. I stopped. Crap. I didn't know where Hidan's room was. Uh... I'd try upstairs, first.

Creeping up the stairs, I noticed one door cracked open. Praying it was his, I peeked in. Yes! There Hidan was, sprawled out on his bed and snoring, drool dribbling from his open mouth. I took a deep breath and stepped to his bedside. "Hidan, wake up!" I whispered and gently shook his shoulder. Bad idea.

He let out a shout of surprise and whipped his scythe around. I yelped and narrowly dodged. Heart pounding, I cried out, "Hidan! Hidan, it's just me! Calm down!" He seemed to finally realized where he was.

His face twisted into a fury. "_You."_ He advanced on me, expression livid.

"I'm sorry!" I backed away. He raised his scythe, ready to strike. "Wait, the mission-,"

"Hidan," a stern voice stopped his advancement. "You're twenty-five minutes late to leave for your mission. Get up, get dressed, let the werewolf go. She did nothing wrong." Hidan dropped his scythe to the floor obediently. He grumbled but got dressed all the same.

I scrambled out the door to see my saviour, Leader-sir, walking down the hall. "Thank you," I softly called. He waved a hand and went down the stairs.

Sasori greeted me again as I exited the house. "Is he coming?"

I nodded. "Probably not in the best of moods, though."

"He never is."

The door slammed behind me and I jumped, earning a sneer. "You're skitterish, b****." Hidan walked off towards the woods, expecting us to follow. Sasori rolled his eyes. All the same, he followed and motioned for me to do so as well.

Well into the woods, Sasori finally spoke. "We are to locate the Nine-tailed fox, and kidnap if possible." My heart jumped. Naruto! The red-head gauged my reaction. I did my best to stay calm, figuring this was some sort of test. Which meant a choice was coming up. And that choice would either result in a firm friendship with the Akatsuki or a probable death by the hands of them.

"I thought that was fish-stick's and weasel-boy's job?" Hidan asked. Then he laughed. "Figures we'd get it, those two can't do anything right."

Sasori gave him a stern glare. "Itachi has been ordered to rest. He's going blind, which brings us to the another detail of the mission." He glanced at me, waiting again for a reaction. "It is our job to kidnap his pink-haired companion, Sakura Haruno, at all costs. The Nine-tailed fox is just a plus."

"And I suppose we're relying on the new recruit for this?" Sasori nodded in reply to Hidan's assumption. "Ha! She'll never let us touch her friends."

I growled. "Watch yourself, Hidan."

Sasori's mouth twitched. "She's right, keep your mouth shut. We'll see what happens when the time comes. And Leader wouldn't have out her on the team if he didn't think that she was ready. Zero will stay loyal."

The statement honestly touched me, but then I shoved the emotion away. Was Sasori told to say that? This mission was obviously a test, given it was my first mission, and therefore I concluded that Sasori's words were things to be gauged as well.

Hidan snorted. "You're both too trusting of her. She's a werewolf. She'll eat us in our sleep."

I thought about that. "I've never had human before..." Hidan rolled his eyes. "Hey, if I ate your eye could you still see out of it?"

He shot me a glare. "No funny business, b****."

I took that as my new nickname from him. "We're making our way towards the western part of the Konoha territory, a larger town known as Benisakura. If we make a good pace we'll be there by tomorrow morning." I expected to break out into a run right then, but no such thing happened. Wow, were we really that close to the Western Border? That shocked me.

* * *

><p>The night was a bit rough, we had wolves and wild dogs trailing us the entire time. Hidan kept telling me to shoo away my 'friends,' to which I told him "They're protecting their territory, so shove some dirt down your mouth and out your a**." During all of it, Sasori was quiet.<p>

Morning came. Dawn bled all over the night sky, and sure enough we came to the Benisakura 'village.' People were already bustling about, getting ready stalls for the day's customers. Stores were already open and there were already a few drunks stumbling about, shouting about the festival tonight. Festival? :D That meant music!

"We've recieved intel that the Fox and the Pink-head are escorting a musician to the festival," Sasori notified me. My ears perked up.

"Those lucky bastards! Do you know who it is?" I asked. Sasori smiled at my reaction. He just pulled a paper from his pocket, probably some tiny, almost insignificant mission details. After all, what else would you put on paper? What if the enemy found it? He pointed to a name. _Eric Whitacre._ "Oh, come on! How come _they_ get all the fun after I leave?" I muttered crossly. I was in love with his music!

"Don't worry, where ever we find the musician, we'll find them. So," I couldn't believe what he was saying,"We'll be seeing this Mr. Whitacre's performance." I grinned, ear to ear.

"You're humoring me!"

He shrugged. "Depends. If it's great music, then yes, I am. If it's awful, then no, it was part of the mission and strongly against my will."

"You are a sir and a bro, Sasori."

Hidan snapped, "Would you two shut up about this stupid Erin Whityard? Let's just find a damn inn to sleep at until the festival starts." He had dark circles under his eyes, and I felt sorry for him. After all, he had returned from one mission to be immediately sent back out on another.

Sasori agreed. "Alright." We walked down the mainstreet until we came across an inn. "Full," Sasori reported to us after trying to check in at the front counter. Hidan groaned. Next inn! "Full." Next! "Full." Hidan's face was heating up by the time we reached the next inn. "Full." The next seemed hopeful. It was run down and looke pretty beaten up on the ouside and it was well away from where the main festivities would take place. "We're in luck," Sasori told us. And it was lucky. The inside wasn't nearly as filthy as the ouside.

Room 206. Two beds. Hidan flopped down onto one of them and was passed out in seconds. Sasori turned to me. "We may have a long couple nights ahead of us," he warned. "You should sleep, too."

"Alright," I agreed, and then looked at the small bed. It was only meant for one person. "What about you?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine without sleep." A bit curious but not brave enough to ask questions, I curled up in a fluffy ball of wolf and closed my eyes, sleep taking faster than I thought it would.

**Benisakura Village, Outside Burick Hall, the Music Building**

"Have you seen her yet?" Naruto asked Sakura.

"No, but if I do I'll tell you," Sakura snapped the answer back for the umpteenth time. Kakashi-sensei was ignoring Naruto; the little blonde was becoming increasingly unbearable to be with as his anticipation grew tenfold. He was whipping his head around like a bird. What if Zero was here?

Kakashi had a feeling that even if Zero were here, she wouldn't be able to show herself or be allowed to. They didn't know if Zero was being held captive or not. They didn't even know if she was still alive. But Naruto wouldn't give up. And that's why he and Sakura respected him so much. After escorting Eric Whitacre safely to Burick Hall, both his performance and inn they had decided to sit outside the entrance and people watch.

If Zero wasn't here he had a feeling that someone else would be here. Whether they were related to the Akatsuki or not, there was always some Missing Nin that decided it'd be fun to wreak havoc at a festival. It was easier to get away.

Sakura stood up. "I'm going to get some lunch. Want to come with?"

Naruto nodded and stood up, as well. Kakashi shook his head. "Just bring me back something. I still don't want to completely abandon Mr. Whitacre, even if he's safe and sound in the building."

Sakura said, "Alright," and then the pair walked off. He figured it wouldn't be too long before they were back; already enthusiastic merchants were practically jumping them and trying to sell their merchandise. He sat back on the bench, watching beautiful women walk by. Few took notice of him. But he noticed someone with red hair, a man that seemed familiar. _Very _familiar. But he couldn't place the face; and then the man was gone, around a corner.

**Mainstreet**

Sasori made his way up the street, trying to find some suitable, healthy food for Hidan and Zero so that they were ready for whatever happened tonight. But it was difficult. Everyone was ready for the festival; nothing but sweets and treats lined the street, any meat seemed too greasy. He sighed and walked into a sushi resturant. Maybe not entirely safe for the immortal and the werewolf, but it was the best thing he could find.

The werewolf. He knew it was ridiculous, but for some reason Sasori rather liked the werewolf. She was different from the rest. A good different. Zero wasn't always at everyone else's throat, unlike Hidan, she wasn't as loud as Tobi nor as solemn as her cousin, and she wasn't late like a certain pyromaniac he knew. Sure, she was a perfectionist and messy(how those two could fit together he would never know) but laid back and calm. He felt like he could trust her.

Zero. An odd name for an odd woman. Sasori didn't think he had ever met anyone that liked music as much as she and didn't pursue a career in it. It was a different form of art, and even if he didn't agree with her ideals on art, at least they were bearable.

"Do you think Zero's alright?" Sasori's head whipped around to see none other than the Nine-tailed fox and Pink-head walking in the Sushi bar. He ducked out of sight. "You don't think they've hurt her, do you?" the blonde asked, concern spread thick on his face.

"I'm sure she is, Naruto. In fact, I have a feeling we'll see her tonight at Mr. Whitacre's performance. You remeber her rants, right? She always loved his music."

"How can you know she'll be safe? I know her cousin is in the Akatsuki, but..."

"But he killed the Uchiha clan. I know... We just have to hope for the best."

Sasori slipped out behind them, keeping to the shadows. A waitress saw him and looked highly concerned; had he eaten without paying? He kept going, not caring. He had to get back to the hotel and think of some way that Zero could come into contact with her friends and not be forced to talk to them. Leader had said to test her, but not too hard. Too much contact could mean betrayal. And Sasori didn't want this bearable companion to die.

**Back at the Inn**

I slowly woke to a dim room; someone had closed the shades and shut all the lights off. I strectched and yawned. Hidan's sleeping form was on the other bed, his chest rising and falling softly, a much quieter form of Hidan than when he was awake.

The door opened and shut. My ears perked up as Sasori walked in, carrying some type of food in his hands. I jumped to the floor and ran over to him, circling his feet as I smelled the sweet, sweet scent waft down from his hands. "Calm down, Zero," he scolded. I obediently sat down, tail wagging. He chuckled, shook his head and then patted mine. "I take it you like caramel apples." His hand disappeared into the box he held and came out with an apple smothered in caramel.

I turned human and graciously took it from his hands. "Thank you, Sasori!" He went and stood by the window, opening the curtains to reveal the setting sun. The red-head stared thoughfully out it while I ate contentedly. Soon Hidan shifted.

"Is it morning? Tell me I missed the festival," he muttered.

"Sorry, Hidan. You woke up just in time for them," Sasori notified him. "I have some food when you're up." Hidan sat up and swiped the apple from Sasori's hands, eating it noisily.

"Thanks." It was gone in about twenty seconds. Then he went to the bathroom.

"Get ready, Zero," Sasori told me. "Tonight is your first mission, and it's an important one." He smiled. "I've already located our targets, they're in town and at the Burick Building." Hidan came out of the bathroom, grinning. There was a bloodthirsty light in his eyes as he donned a nice suit in preparation for Eric Whitacre's concert. "Let's go."


	7. Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

**Burick Building **

I was practically squealing with delight as the lights dimmed, focusing on the orchestra as they walked onto stage and took their seats. A tuning note was played. Everyone tuned to it, and this process was made three more times before the man of the night walked out of another door. Eric Whitacre.

The first song played was _The Ghost Train_, and it left me marveling at how in tune the flutes were. In the band I had been in, that _never _happened. Ever. The crowd clapped. And then they played possible my favorite song. _Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!_ A projector screen came down and images fitting the music danced across the screen, making the crowd laugh and lean in to listen closer.

It was during the return of the Elvi while Godzilla was in a tango with the Sphinx that Sasori tugged on my arm and pointed to three heads. Three heads I knew well. Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei were sitting not far from us. My stomach did a flip. Suddenly, it was a lot harder to focus on the enjoyable music, suddenly all I could think about was what I was going to do once the kidnapping was commenced.

I wasn't doing too bad with Akatsuki- I was doing better than I ever had in Konoha. I didn't want to go back. But I wanted to fight alongside Naruto and Sakura again under Lady Tsunade's command and train under sensei, but what about fighting under Leader-sir? He was the alpha. I couldn't disobey him. And my cousin, I had finally found my cousin. Tugging on Hidan's sleeve, I pointed out the three. He nodded and went back to listening.

The end came too soon. People were getting up to leave, Sasori motioned us to keep seated. Team Seven stayed seated, too. The building was almost empty. "Now!" We leaped across the seats. Kakashi was the first to notice; he pushed Naruto down met Hidan mid-air. I didn't see what happened to them. Sakura has let out a war cry and had aimed a punch at Sasori, a punch that I knew full well would kill him on impact. Managing to ground my feet, I changed course. I knocked Sasori aside and took the punch, although it wasn't full force because Sakura saw what I was doing and had pulled her chakra out of her fist.

"Zero!" she gasped.

I didn't respond, just kicked her in the head. She fell, knocked out. Naruto witnessed it all, eyes wide with shock; I landed and faced him, growling, and the shock turned into anger. "What the Hell are you doing!"

He formed the Rasengan and charged. I jumped, using his shoulders to launch myself further into the air. "Zero!" Sasori called, him and Hidan near the door with Sakura's limp figure thrown over the immortal's shoulder. "Let's go!"

I landed and faced my teammates. My Konoha teammates. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "But don't come after me; and don't come for Sakura." My last glimpse of those two was a heartbroken Naruto and Kakashi gingerly holding a broken arm, both watching our departure in disbelief. But I couldn't look back again. I could only look to the future and hope that it held much more than those hurt expressions I left behind.

**Traveling Back to the Akatsuki Base**

Sasori looked back at Zero repeatedly. Her head was down and her feet scuffed the ground, leaving a neat little trail behind her. Then he looked to Sakura. Since she woke the girl hadn't stopped yelling at the three of them, demanding Hidan put her down so she could "punch his guts out." Hidan's reply had been nowhere near polite. So Sasori had knocked her out again.

Sasori drew back to walk next to Zero. "Are you alright?" he asked. His voice held genuine concern, but he also wanted to make sure that the trail of scuffs wasn't for any Konoha nin that would without a doubt be attempting to trail them. "You haven't said a word since we left."

She shrugged. "Hasn't been much to say. The mission went faster than I thought."

Sasori nodded. "Very true. Leader will be nicely surprised. But I feel like a werewolf would have more to say than just that."

Zero snorted. "I wanted to eat Hidan? I don't think a werewolf would have anything more to say." She was silent. Sasori was about to walk away in exasperation and mutter cross things about women, but then Zero asked, "So how long has Itachi been going blind?"

Sasori grimaced. "Quite some time. Ever since he activated those eyes of his; it costs him dearly every time he uses them." He paused, feeling sorry for the werewolf. "I suppose he never told you?"

"No, but we didn't exactly keep in touch after he murdered the clan. And he didn't know about William, in all fairness. So I'd understand if that was why he wouldn't tell me."

Sasori couldn't believe himself as he touched her arm gently with a hand. Since when was he so damn emotional? First concern, then pity? What was wrong with him! Zero's hand gratefully squeezed it and she gave him a small smile. "That seems pretty petty." Ha! He saved himself!

"Petty? Uchihas? _Never!_ I haven't held a decent conversation with Neji Hyuuga in years because he lost the screw on my clarinet. And you call us petty…"

"Hey, you two! Get over here and keep an eye on bitchtits in case she wakes up!" Hidan commanded. "I don't want to be obliterated by one of her punches!" Zero obediently sprang to walk a few inches behind Hidan, watching the Pinky with all the earnestness of a dog ready to eat a piece of meat. She didn't even brush off the insect that landed on her shoulder.

**Hokage's Office**

Lady Tsunade couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sakura Haruno, kidnapped? Her apprentice, taken down by some half-assed ninjas? She wouldn't believe it. There must have been some dirty trick in place in order for three criminals to take her so easily. And she refused to believe that Zero had meant what she said. There was no way.

"Go home now, Kakashi. And don't let Naruto go and attempt to do anything stupid. We'll see what we can do." The silver-haired nin nodded and left without a word. He was feeling as if he had been beaten into the ground and then run over by several carts; he had lost two students in less than a month and another six years earlier. It was quite the blow.

But he was also determined. He would keep Naruto safe, and together they would get Sakura back. Kakashi knew that Sasuke was close to a lost cause, but Zero was not. She had a chance; they could get her back. And he knew they would.

"Get me Genma and Raidou!" Tsunade ordered Shizune as soon as Kakashi was out of earshot. "And are Kurenai and all of them back from their mission yet? It's been too long since I've heard word from them; I'm getting worried."

"They should be back tomorrow. And I'll get them right away," she said, darting out of the room. Tonton followed, waddling along.

**Akatsuki Base**

I flinched as I heard Sakura yelling my name from the basement, calling me to go down there and talk to her, face-to-face. But I didn't. Leader had given specific instructions that he would dictate who went downstairs and when; getting the feisty kunoichi over to their side was going to be tough. There was talk of pushing Itachi down the stairs to convince her that he needed help, but that was quickly squashed by an angry weasel-boy threatening to throw them all into a painful genjutsu world.

"Zero!"

"Want to go outside, Zero-san?"

I blinked at the masked idiot. Did I? Did I really want to? With _him?_ Sakura called again, a much less appropriate name this time. Yep, I did. "Sure, Tobi! Should I bring a ball?" He nodded so fast I was afraid his head would go flying off.

"How was Zero during the mission?" Sasori jumped a little bit at the voice, and turned around to see Itachi standing in the doorway of the kitchen. The Uchiha had a flake of concern on his face. That was something only Kisame ever got, never anyone else.

Sasori crossly snapped, "How should I know? Why don't you go talk to her yourself?" He wasn't in the best of moods, and had no patience where Sakura and Zero were concerned. Reasons unknown to him, Sasori was getting annoyed when anyone mentioned Zero. Especially when he couldn't talk to her. He couldn't talk to her, so why didn't they go talk to her? She was obviously not taking the situation completely in stride, so why did everyone keep coming to _him_ and not _her?_

Itachi was unabashed by the response. "Hidan said you too talked a lot during the mission, so I assumed it would be best to ask you and let her deal with the situation in her own way. And you've seemed to have warmed up to her quickly."

"Well, there's nothing to say. She took the mission about as well as she's taking the situation." Sasori stormed out of the kitchen, annoyed with Itachi's roundabout way of getting information about his own cousin. Why couldn't he just go talk to her?Why all this stupid interrogating and private conversations? He found solace in his quiet room.

Until a bomb went off.

"DEIDARA!" Hidan screamed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"It wasn't me, un! I'm right here!"

"THEN WHO JUST TOTALED MY ROOM!" Tobi's giggle floated down the hall. Oh, dear. "TOBI!" Total chaos ensued, somehow dragging everyone but Leader and Sasori into the fray. Kisame tried to pry Hidan off Tobi. The immortal had a firm hold on his neck, and it took Kisame, Zero and Itachi to release Tobi, and then Kakuzu and Deidara added to the mix to hold him back. Hidan's face was fuming like a steam engine and Sasori was almost in fear of an explosion.

"What's going on here?" Konan stepped into the middle. She placed a hand on Hidan's chest and stared with authority at Tobi. Tobi seemed to shrink. "Tobi, answer me."

"He set off a freakin' bomb in my room! I was nearly in _pieces!"_ Hidan shouted.

"Go downstairs to the living room, Hidan, I'll deal with Tobi." He stormed off, in an even worse mood than Sasori had ever been; in fact, he didn't think that he had _ever_ seen Hidan in such an angry state. But he wouldn't ask questions. If Hidan needed something he would have no trouble voicing it.

Konan stared down the cringing Tobi. Slowly, unsure and feeling awkward, the rest of the Akatsuki disbanded to their respective rooms. "What were you doing, Tobi?" she asked, deadly calm.

"I was playing outside with Zero, and then I decided it'd be fun to take some of Deidara's 'splodies. Zero didn't want to; she tried to stop me. But I managed to sneak one into Hidan's room… And then Deidara was outside practicing a-and when he exploded one of his…" Tobi went from excited to talking to trailing off in ashamed, scared embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Konan. I won't do it again," he apologized.

"Make sure of it," was all Konan needed to say; she walked away to her room and left a disciplined Tobi behind. He slunk to his room, too. Sasori had listened to the conversation with amusement. This was why Konan and Leader were together, both commanded respect and dealt with all problems flawlessly. He wished he could deal with his problems like that. But first he needed to identify them…

**Zero's Room**

I lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. In my hand crawled an ant, scrambling around with excitement as it tried to gather all the crumbs in my hand. It had been three days since Sakura had come to the base and nearly two days since Hidan's explosion; the poor guy seemed to be feeling pretty sick. Whenever I walked past him I could practically feel the heat radiating off him. Kakuzu was worried about his partner. We needed Sakura.

So it was just my luck when Itachi knocked on my door. "Zero," he called through it. After gently setting the ecstatic ant down, I opened it, curious as to what my stoic cousin had to say. "We're making the 'we're a sorry lot so please help us' strategy, so it's your turn to go appeal to her pathos." Oh, boy. It was my turn to see Sakura.

"Alright," I answered. "I'll head down."

The basement cells were not very pleasant. They were dimly lit and smelled of mold and rats; in fact, I think I saw some snakes and mice quivering in the corner shadows. A fine layer of filth covered the floor. The cells had some dirty hay strewn over the floor, but hardly enough for a make-shift bed. Water and bread was set out on a tray on a table near one of the seven cells; I assumed that it was for Sakura so I grabbed on my way over to the occupied cell.

She didn't even look up when I set the tray down. I stood there, unsure of what to do next, the silence killing me. I noticed a chair. When I dragged it over the floor to the cell it screeched loudly, slicing through the silence like a knife. I sat down. "…Uh, Sakura?"

"What?" she snapped. "I am not helping the likes of you; you all make me sick with your talk of bringing world peace through domination! As if I'd help a group of cowardly murderers grow and prosper. I'd much rather die a thousand deaths, each one more painful than the last. I'd do that countless times before I even considered helping you!"

"…So I'll see you upstairs healing Itachi in an hour?"

Her head whipped up and shot me a glare that could've stopped my heart in its tracks. "You're the worst, Zero. I trusted you; we grew up together. And you betrayed me and Konoha without a second thought," her angry voice cracked. "You'll be the first one I kill when I get out of here."

I scooted my chair closer, trying to ignore her insults. "Sakura," I begged, "Please, they aren't as bad as you think they are. They're like a family. They'll welcome you and make you feel at home, much more at home than Konoha. And they need you. _I _need you-,"

"Get out of my sight, Zero! That's the last time I'll ever use your name. You are the reason I won't even dare to feel sorry for the Akatsuki. I hate you and everything you associate yourself with. You deserve death even more than them. Our situations should be reversed; you should be in the Konoha jails on death row."

Well, that concluded negotiations. I stood up and left without a word, lightly running up the steps and onto the main floor. Itachi waited for me. "How'd it go?"

"I made it worse." I entered my room and sat back on the floor, picking up my clarinet and blowing a nameless tune. It took my thoughts away and sent them out the window to drown in the lake. The ant was gone.

**Unknown**

"A werewolf, eh?"

"She's not worth your time."

"I'd disagree; the Akatsuki want her, so I think I should have her. At the very least she would make for a very interesting test subject."

"Yes, my Lord. I will seek her out immediately."

**Konoha, Hokage's Office**

"Lady Tsunade," Shino interrupted Kiba's mission report. Everyone turned in shock towards the bug maniac; he never said anything during mission reports, let alone interrupt someone telling it. "While we were traveling back to Konoha I noticed Zero and Sakura traveling with two… men."

Tsunade sat up in her desk, not believing her ears. "Are you sure?" Shino nodded. "Where were they?"

"Near Benisakura Village."

Shizune broke in, "Do you know which way they were heading?" Lady Tsunade had gotten to her feet and was pacing around the room, gears turning and clinking together in her head. They may be able to start searching for the Akatsuki base. They were becoming a threat and needed to be cut down before they got too strong.

"I know where they stopped; I placed one of my bugs on her."

She stopped in her tracks. "Shizune, get Genma and Raidou and tell them their mission is about to begin. And then get Kakashi in here. Shino, you stay. The rest of you are excused until further notice; we may wage a battle against the Akatsuki sooner than expected."


	8. Hallucinating

**Thanks to evee11 for reviewing :D I'm glad you're enjoying the story- I'll try and keep it up to your expectations :)**

**Sorry it took a while to update, I had writer's block x) but it's a nit bit longer than the other chapters, so I hope it makes up for everything :D**

**Akatsuki Base**

_Knock, knock, knock._

"I got it!" Deidara called back to those of us watching TV in the living room. I thought nothing of it. But Konan stood up and tried to stop him from getting near the door.

"Wait, Deidara-," blood cut her off, splattering against the wall. "Deidara!" Kisame's sword was drawn and he charged to the doorway, where two men stood bearing confident grins and gruesome weapons. I followed Kisame's manner. Together we took swings at them, me roaring as a werewolf and Kisame growling.

They stepped out of the way of our attacks and danced around, jabbing at us with their weapons. Narrowly, we avoided them. But they were relentless, and it wasn't long before Kisame was back against a wall, both men turning onto him. "You're dead, fish," one snarled.

I barreled into both of them, the three of us tumbling through the open front door. "Zero!" I heard someone shout. But my ears shut down as pain seared through my stomach and two weights crashed down on top of me; the two ninjas were stabbing and scratching at me, yelling.

"You're coming with us, Wolf."

"Lord Orochimaru has plans for you, and I hope for your sake that they're not the same as that Sasuke-boy."

I snarled and shoved them off, blindly lashing out. My claws made contact with a soft face and blood was sent flying into the air, sprinkling down around us. The surviving ninja wasn't phased. He leaped. My limbs tried to respond to my brain but to no avail. I was toast. This was it, I knew it, I was dead. Well, at least I had gotten laid in my life, much more than Naruto could say.

But the pain never came. An unfamiliar brunette male was standing in front of me, blocking the man's weapon by taking it to the chest. My mouth dropped. Who…? Wait, instead of blood dripping out of the back of the male's body, there was nothing but wood splinters. I had seen something like this only once before, when sparring with Kankuro in Sunagakure after calling his puppets fat ugly money whores. (Somehow a rumor had gotten around that Kankuro's puppets were strippers. I have_ no idea _how that started…)

"Kankuro?" I stammered. Nope, there was a red-head I had grown to know decently well right behind me, controlling the puppet's movements. The puppet sprang away, taking the weapon with it. Seizing my chance, I scrambled back. "Thank you!" I gasped. The pain in my stomach was getting worse and spreading.

"Stay there," Sasori ordered, and then his focus went entirely to the battle at hand. The ninja was dodging left and right, playing the mouse in this game rather than the cat. The puppet and man were becoming a blur. I was impressed by their speed until I realized that it was my eye sight becoming bleary, darkness lurking on the very edges of my vision, ready to pounce and take me. I threw up.

Sasori was distracted by me for a split-second. It was enough for the enemy shinobi to dart towards him, katakana raised for the kill. I forced my arm and hand to move, I grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it into the shinobi's face; he cursed and missed his target.

The last thing I saw was Kisame joining the battle.

* * *

><p>"Zero?" I groaned and cracked my eyes open. My head was throbbing as if it were about to split open any minute and spill its contents. Who was calling my name? "Oh, thank goodness! Sasori, she's awake." Was that Konan?<p>

"Good. She's responding well to the antidote. You can leave, Konan, I should require no more assistance. Go help Sakura with that blonde idiot." My eyesight adjusted to the light and soon were able to focus on the red head that had saved me, staring down at me in a condescending manner. "Welcome back, Zero. You are the single-most idiotic ninja I have met that has barely scraped by death. Congratulations."

I attempted to glare, but I don't think it got across very well. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know how bad you're head hurts? That's because you tackled two shinobi that were S-ranked criminals to the ground and didn't think far enough ahead to guess that it wouldn't be enough to stop them. However 'heroic' it may have seemed to you, it was dim-witted." He wiped his hands on a rag. "You're lucky that poison didn't kill you," he scolded, softer this time.

I closed my eyes. "Thanks for coming to my rescue out there, I take it you also healed my wound?" My body ached and I wanted to sleep again.

"Actually, no. I simply took the poison out of you and Deidara. Our little Pink-head captive was the one to heal your wounds and take on Deidara's." That shocked my eyes open. Really!? Sakura was helping us? He saw my expression and chuckled. "That's right; her resolve finally broke when she saw the two of you unconscious and bleeding nearly to death." He touched my eyes gently. "Now sleep, you need it. I'll wake you up when Deidara's up and moving, Leader will no doubt wish to have a meeting."

"Thanks, Sasori," I said, relaxed. My stomach felt numb- probably part of the antidote.

I felt a hand brush my cheek and stay there for barely a second. "You were very brave, Zero." And then he was gone, leaving me wondering and confused by his sudden emotion.

* * *

><p>Deidara and I compared wounds while we waited for the meeting to start, tugging bandages down when the others weren't looking- Sasori had already yelled at us once. "Look at this," he bragged. Glancing around, he tenderly pulled his bandage down and revealed a disgusting, deep wound to his throat. "Missed my artery by," he held his fingers a centimeter apart, "this much."<p>

"Ugh, I don't think I can top that," I grimaced.

"Zero, Deidara! Do I have to yell at you two morons again?" Sasori snapped, making both of us jump and guiltily hide our wounds again. I slunk to the table and sat down. Deidara followed, gingerly swallowing before sitting down and setting to work on a 'non-explosive' clay bear. Or so he claimed.

Sasori sat on my other side, eyeing us like we were mischievous two year olds. It wasn't long before all of the Akatsuki members were seated, with the exception of Leader-Sir and the not-member Sakura. Even Zetsu was here! I hadn't seen him in a while! :D

I scratched at the table absentmindedly, wondering how long it would be before I saw her again and what she would say- what would I say? I made a considerable dent in the table.

"That's mahogany!" Hidan shouted. **(Ten imaginary dollars goes to whoever gets the reference x)**

"Sorry," I muttered. I withdrew my hand and waited for Leader-Sir to start the meeting patiently, like the good little puppy I was.

Black smoke announced his arrival. "Sorry I'm late," he said, appearing in his chair once the smoke dispersed. "I was going over files. Deidara," he turned to the blonde. "Anything to say about the incident?"

He didn't need to be more specific, Deidara understood perfectly. His face got red and he blanched. "Sorry, it won't ever happen again."

"It better not," Kakuzu spoke up. "This is our _secret_ house. No one should _ever_ knock on the door." He glared at everyone's favorite pyromaniac, who was beginning to look increasingly miserable.

"That's enough, Kakuzu. He knows what he did and how to correct it, but what we do not know is how to retaliate. Or, should we even retaliate?" Leader-Sir looked around the room, waiting for an opinion. No one offered anything, but unlike me, it seemed that everyone else was thinking about the question.

Itachi was the first to speak up. "They were sent by Orochimaru to capture Zero, correct?" Leader Sir nodded. "I have a feeling that if his need for her is dire the snake will send more of his henchmen in, and I personally think we should either move our headquarters or wait for them."

"Those are probably the best courses of action," Sasori agreed. "Going after that snake would require locating his hideout, and we do not have the means for that."

"Although he would make a tasty snack," half of Zetsu slyly remarked.

"No, Zetsu. We are not going after him- Sasori's right, going after Orochimaru would cost us dearly. Our hands are limited," Konan stated. Leader Sir nodded his approval. "But that still leaves us with two courses of action."

"I vote we stay right where we are," Deidara declared. "Stick it to him."

"You speak out of pride, Deidara," Kakuzu rebuked.

"But he has a point," Sasori defended him. "If we stay and he sends more henchmen, us being here will tell him that we fought off his last attack with no problem and can handle anything he throws. Maybe he'll lose interest."

"I highly doubt it," Hidan retorted. "If anything it'll make the bastard worse."

Arguing broke out. It was obvious that the Akatsuki was split right down the middle on what to do. I didn't say anything since I was the new member and entirely unfamiliar to the whole meeting thing, but I figured a nice compromise would do. But… I didn't know what sort of compromise could be made. It seemed pretty black and white.

"Stop!" Leader Sir commanded, and everyone was instantly silent. He looked at each and every one of us. "We'll leave it to a vote." Hidan groaned. "All in favor of moving the headquarters…?" Kisame, Tobi, Zetsu, and Deidara raised their hands, and Leader rose to announce the decision. "By majority vote we stay. But there one to two members will stay on watch every night to alert the rest of us if Orochimaru makes a move." He paused. "And we need to discuss our prisoner medic."

"She proved very useful in healing Zero and Deidara," Sasori spoke up. "We need her, she is no doubt more useful than troublesome."

Leader nodded. "I would agree. But the convincing has not been working, so what do we do to get her on our side? We cannot simply let her run loose in the headquarters." I agreed with him; although it had worked for me.

Hidan was muttering crossly to Kakuzu, who was nodding in agreement. Kisame, sitting next to the pair, shot them a glare that silenced them after he obviously overheard something offensive. Leader stared at the two as well. "Is there something you would like to say, Hidan?"

He nodded defiantly. "Yes, there is. I say we keep Pinky below in the cells and don't let her know about anything else; if she begins to think that help will never come she'll lose hope and options. She obviously thinks _someone _is coming to rescue her."

"But she won't ever help us if there is a prospect of escaping," Kakuzu agreed. I blinked at the harsh solution they had set forward. It was… true. What they said was true, if we took away what she was waiting for, she would lose her will to fight the Akatsuki any longer.

Leader thought about it. "You are right. Thank you, Kakuzu, Hidan. I think you've stated the best course of action. We shall leave her in the cells, but keep sending down members to convince her as if nothing has happened, even if Konoha ninja manage to find us, she will never know." He nodded to Sasori. "You will keep watch tonight. Konan, you will speak to Sakura after dinner. Dismissed."

He disappeared. Everyone got up en masse and moved out the door to go about their business. I was beginning to feel a bit wobbly on my feet, and one look at Deidara's pale and sweating face told me he wasn't feeling too hot either. Sasori touched my shoulder. "You two, go lay down. The poison isn't entirely out of your systems, just most of it. The rest won't be out for a good two days, so you'll be feeling some pretty bad symptoms. Plus, you both lost a lot of blood." He glanced at me once, but kept his eyes fixed on Deidara most of the time. "So rest up. We can't have two members out."

I nodded and Deidara seemed too dazed to respond. We both parted ways. I don't remember much after that, I got to my room and zonked out, only waking to throw up and stare wildly around at some made up noise or hallucination. The hallucinations ranged from truly frightening to just plain dumb.

Once I witnessed Sasuke standing over me with a kunai poised to strike. And then the next image I saw was a clown juggling with a disco ball flashing all around. After that I placed a pillow over my head to stop my eyes, but unfortunately that was put to an end when I threw up into… A snake's mouth? Then I felt spiders crawling down my spine. I cried out when they began to bite me, snakes and bats crawling up onto my bed and baring fangs, ready to lunge at my flesh. But all of it wasn't nearly as weird as the image of Liam coming into my room and hugging me, gently pushing me onto my back after the spiders had tried to eat me; he placed my blanket back on me and left. That was the last one I remember.

Two days later I emerged from my room. My head throbbed faintly, but it was nothing compared to the past two days. Hidan looked even worse than I had; he was sweating and pale and shaking, snapping at everyone. "What are you looking at, bitch?" I averted my eyes. They fell on the window, revealing it to be early morning.

Konan greeted me much more kindly, running over as I entered the kitchen and hugging me. "Zero! How are you feeling?" She held me at an arm's length. "You look a bit better."

"Was I hit by a train?"

She laughed. "No, but I have a feeling that would feel better. I'm glad you're alright." She hugged me again.

"Is Deidara up yet? And what happened to Hidan?" I asked her, peering around her shoulder for food. My stomach was practically howling like a wolf at the moon or roaring like a lion taking his place in the circle of life. Ooh! A glorious donut shone on a plate :D

Konan followed my gaze and smiled. She grabbed it and delivered the package into my eager hands. "Deidara hasn't shown his face in the hallways since the meeting; Sasori's been checking in on him. And Hidan…" She paused. "He won't talk about it to anyone. Honestly, I think Sakura is the only one that can help him; but her loyalty isn't entirely ours yet… Or even partially."

I took all the information in. Then I asked, grimacing as I thought of shooting myself in the foot, "Might I be able to talk to her sometime?"

Konan's face flitted from surprised to her usual kindness. "Alright, I'll go talk to Pein." She left.

Devouring my donut, I exited the kitchen to the room with the piano. It felt like it had been a while; too long. When was the last time I had played music? Grinning in anticipation, I sat down on the bench and cracked my fingers; it was time for some hard core Zelda music!

My fingers danced across the keys. I became lost in the pixel world of Zelda, which was so much better than my ridiculous hallucinations. In this world I could picture myself running around in a green suit with a shield and sword, rescuing a princess and defeating monsters. Oh, it was delightful. I mean, the sight of Liam had been great, don't get me wrong! But I knew he was dead. There was nothing in it anymore; it was time to move on, however much my heart didn't want to.

"Zero?"

My fingers crushed my Zelda-Dream in unpleasant notes. I sprang into a standing position, forgetting about all surroundings except the person in the doorway. "Leader Sir?" I questioned, nearly saluting him. But that seemed over-the-top.

"The cells are open for you."

"Thank you, Sir." I bowed. He left. And then I practically sprinted to the cells, the only thing stopping me being my headache. Descending the steps, I faced Sakura.

* * *

><p>Sasori put water to Deidara's lips. "Drink," he ordered. The blonde did as he was told and then slumped back onto his bed. He placed the glass on the bed-side table. "It'll be here when you need it, Deidara," he told his partner, standing up to leave.<p>

"Sasori-danna, are you helping Zero?" he croaked. Deidara fixed Sasori with glazed, blue eyes. He gave a weak grin and lifted his eye brows in a suggestive manner. Sasori glared at him. "I know you, Danna."

"Shut up and sleep." He didn't feel anything for the werewolf and the blonde's constant chatter was getting annoying.

He stepped in the hall to find himself face-to-face with Konan. "I heard that," she told him. Sasori scowled. "Don't worry," she assured, "I won't say anything. But I saw you in her room yesterday checking in on her; and so did Itachi. It's obvious that you've spent more time with her than with any other member of the Akatsuki. You sprang into battle to help Zero, not Kisame. Even if you deny your feelings, everyone but Zero can see them." She walked away, leaving Sasori a bit speechless. He had always known that Konan was quite perceptive, but he had never quite expected her to be so perceptive. Or was everything really just that obvious? He shook his head to clear it. "She's down in the cells," Konan called back.

Sasori didn't respond. His stomach jumped up a bit at the thought of her walking around already; first, that was a speedy recovery. Second, that was almost _too_ speedy. She should probably be taking it easy. His thoughts drifted back to the Zero of yesterday, lying in her bed and shivering; she had been so vulnerable.

He headed to the doorway to the cells. Even if he wasn't going to talk to Zero about anything, hopefully seeing her would either confirm or nullify Konan's statements. Did he really have feelings for Zero?

**The Cells**

"Sakura!" I called. The pink-head turned to face me, surprised to see me standing there, rather excited. "Just making sure you weren't changing or something!" I bounced over to the chair outside her cell.

"What would I be changing into? I have nothing but freakin' bread and water," she snapped, reminding much of Tsunade. I flinched a little. Tetchy, as usual, I told her in my head. After all, enough balls I had not to tell that to Sakura's face.

Then something occurred to me. "Why haven't you used your super-strength to escape?" I cocked my head to one side, curious.

She shook her head. "That shark- Kisame- keeps draining my chakra. I don't have enough for that," she turned away and faced the other wall. "And leave. I'm not talking to you."

"But you're healing me," I pointed out. She didn't answer. "I just came down to say thanks," I told her, then up and dusted. I wasn't great with words, so I figured it was best if I left all that convincing and whatnot to the other members. I might make things worse again.

Reaching the top of the steps, I yelped in surprise as I nearly knocked Sasori over.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry!" Zero apologized over and over. Sasori kept on trying to wave her off, but the werewolf wouldn't take his nonchalance as an acceptable answer. "Are you alright?"<p>

"Yes, Zero, I am alright."

"Are you-,"

"Yes, Zero. I. Am. Sure."

She slunk away; peering around the corner to make sure no one else was "'waiting to ambush her," as she put it; Sasori had to stop her with a hand. "Zero, seriously. Don't worry about it, I'm fine. I actually came to find you- are you feeling alright? It's pretty bold of you to be wandering around already."

She nodded. "Yeah! I'm feeling loads better!" She smiled. Sasori closed his eyes for half a second, cursing himself. Konan was right. He loved it when Zero smiled and the way she got all excited at even the thought of music, and while he wasn't entirely sure what love was, he knew full well that he had feelings for the werewolf. But she wouldn't know until he knew what to do with those feelings; he was a bit too stubborn for his own good.

"Glad to hear it. Now run along; I need to see if Sakura can help our foul-mouthed friend."

"…Deidara?"

"Hidan, moron."

**Outside the Base**

Bushes rustled, the ninja behind them trying to keep hidden. "There," Shino pointed. Everyone looked but saw nothing. Kiba concluded his teammate was going crazy, tracking down imaginary strangers. But Hinata noticed the obvious.

"There's a genjustu around it," she whispered.

Akamaru whined. Kiba looked up sharply. "You're right, boy; Zero's scent is all over the bushes, and Sakura's is faint but drifting from over," he pointed, "there." The group looked to where he pointed. Kurenai and Kakashi were with them.

Kakashi's eye narrowed in thought and he sniffed the air for himself. "It smells like she's marking the territory." Disappointment flooded through him, the harsh truth crashing down on him. "She really is staying willingly."

They turned as one and left to report to Tsunade, the sun beginning to climb even further into the sky. The last thing they were expecting was to find themselves face-to-face with three of Orochimaru's henchmen.

**Akatsuki Base**

I yawned and stretched, sitting up from my place on the floor. "Going to bed?" Konan asked. We, with exception of Tobi and Zetsu, were watching a movie. It was Prince of Persia. I was really enjoying it, but my eyes would hardly stay open.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired," I replied, hopping to my feet and getting out of the way.

Sasori looked at Deidara next to him on the couch. "You should probably get to bed, too. Both of you should be taking it easy." Deidara shrugged. But he did as he told and managed to move out of the movie perimeter.

"Who's on guard duty tonight, Leader, hmm?" Deidara asked. I think part of him hoped it was him; if he was like me I thought my bed was becoming too familiar of a sight. No good.

"Kakuzu," Leader responded from next to Konan. I wanted to 'DAW!' in an expression of cuteness since he had his arm around Konan, but I kept my mouth shut.

Deidara nodded. "Night!" We said in unison. Everyone responded accordingly and then put their attention back on the movie. It was nearing the climax.

I waved Deidara good-night as we parted ways at the stairs. He traveled up and I stayed level; my room was open and I flopped down on the bed, letting sleep take over almost instantly. But I wasn't asleep for long. Nameless dreams and nightmares woke me up in a cold sweat; and it was then that I heard Kakuzu's breathless voice.

"Zero, I need your nose." I shot up. What was happening? I thought we were under attack, so I sprang out of bed to my feet.

"What's happening!?"

"Zero!" He placed a hand on both of my shoulders. "Calm down, nothing's happening." His green eyes were unnaturally bright in the dark, making me half-think this was another dream. He led me out of the room. "I just found something and I need a second opinion."

I wasn't going to ask any questions, but then he led me outside. My stomach dropped for some weird reason; something wasn't right and my instincts knew it. "What do you think you found?"

He didn't answer. I shivered but followed him all the same. It had been long enough that I trusted all the members unquestioningly- well, except for Tobi and Deidara. But that was self-explanatory. Kakuzu motioned for me to stop as we reached some bushes. "Look down there," he pointed. "Tell me what you think it is."

I strained to see through the darkness. My blood froze as the clouds above parted for the moon, outlining the shape of a body; the scent of blood reached my nose. And not just any blood. It smelled like Hinata's. "No!"

I dove into the bushes and scrambled around, trying to get a good look at the body's face. "Zero, what are you-,"

"I need to know…" My stomach settled into a calm once I found the face. It wasn't Hinata. "It smells like those same henchmen," I reported to Kakuzu. He nodded. "Have you spotted any others?"

"No, I haven't. I'm reporting to Leader now, though. I don't know what killed him but it can't be promising for us." He was about to spin around and take off inside, but I stopped him.

"Wait! Kakuzu!" He looked at me. "There's another smell here, I think it was a Leaf Ninja that killed him… I think they've found us." Kakuzu was gone, that was something to big to not report right away. I closed my eyes. They were coming for Sakura, not me; or at least I hoped. I doubted they could take the Akatsuki, but if they did and offered me a spot back in Konoha I had no idea what I'd do. My new friends would probably be sentenced to death. And I couldn't let that happen.

I opened my eyes. That's right, I told myself, that won't happen.

**Unknown**

"None of the five you sent have come back," Kabuto told Orochimaru from his bowed position on the floor.

Orochimaru smiled his creepy, child-wanting smile. "Do not worry, Kabuto. I don't think we'll get the werewolf that way. But you say you followed the last three and two were captured and taken by Konoha Ninja?" Kabuto nodded. "Perfect."

"Sir?"

"We'll exact our revenge on Leaf soon. After they capture the Akatsuki; I have no doubt they'll go all out to get back the werewolf they lost."

Kabuto grinned. "Yes, sir. I'll post a watch at the Akatsuki Base, then you will notified when the Leaf Village successfully captures them."


	9. Sasori Tries Girl Talk

**Hullo there! :D Here we go! :DDD**

Sasori closed his eyes, thinking his decision through one last time. Was this really worth it? What if he didn't like what he heard? Could he really go through with any of it? He pushed all the doubts aside. He needed to know, the curiosity was burning him up; he needed advice from an expert.

He knocked. "Konan?" he inquired.

"Come in!" her kind voice answered. Sasori took a deep breath and pushed the door open, nodding when Konan smiled at him. "What's up?" she asked.

"I…" he trailed off. He didn't really know how to put it. "I, uh… Zero."

Konan hid her amused face. Sasori was looking like an awkward schoolboy trying to talk to the girl he had a crush on. She motioned to her couch. "Come on, sit down. This may be a long conversation," she warned. Sasori sat down anyways. "So what do you need to talk about her?"

He opened his mouth and then closed it, think about how to use words. "She… Wou- I have feelings for her. What do I do?" He breathed out in relief. It was said and done!

Konan smiled. "I'm happy for you, Sasori. Now, what you do is kind of up to you; whatever you're most comfortable with." She put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him seriously. "But first, do you know about Liam?"

He blinked. "No," he replied. But then the gears in his mind started turning. "Wait, is that the man she was married to?"

Konan nodded. "I can't honestly tell you how she'll feel about dating again; she really loved him. But don't be deterred," Konan quickly assured him, seeing his slight crestfallen expression. She smiled at her own cleverness. "To quote the Lion King, 'Love will find a way."

"I don't think it's love," Sasori interrupted.

She rolled her eyes. "How will you know unless you treat it like it is?"

And that shut Sasori up. He was going to do his best to be finished with doubts; there was no room for doubts anywhere in life. It was a lesson taught on the battlefield, but he felt it applied very nicely elsewhere in life. "So how do I begin?"

"Aw, Little Sasori is going to do some girl talk!" Konan was tempted to pinch his cheeks.

"I'm leaving."

"Wait! Sorry, I won't do any of that again," she quickly apologized. She wasn't letting him escape under any circumstances. "Now, how to begin… Well! What exactly do you like about her?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess… Her interest in music is much like my passion for art; I respect that and would like to share it. She's kind, she held no grudge against Itachi. She's brave, especially in that fight against Orochimaru's henchmen. She's pretty, she's smart. She's does funny, cute things…" He trailed off, aware that he was talking quite a bit.

"What does she like?" Konan was practically grinning. It was a delight when Sasori talked a lot about something; it meant he was very passionate. And to think that it was about a girl! Never before would she have dared to believe it.

"You know what she likes, why are you asking me?" Sasori wasn't amused by any of this. He was embarrassed.

Konan had another chance to roll her eyes. "Yes, I know. But do _you _know? Incorporate what she likes into a first date."

Sasori thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "Music, of course." He narrowed his eyes in disgust. "And I've seen she's taken a liking to Deidara's explosives," he growled.

Konan's mouth twitched. "Alright, now combine those into a single night."

"Go to a concert and then watch Fire Works? So wait for the Fourth of July or a Konoha Festival?" He didn't want to wait. Both of those would be far away. The summer solstice was three weeks away; he wanted to take Zero out on a date _now._

"If that's what you want to do. Pein promotes camaraderie among us; he'll have no problem with you going anywhere as long as you're safe. But both of those are far away in time. And I know you're impatient."

Sasori rubbed his eyes. "Can I just tell her I like her and want to date her?" All this seemed pointless.

"Go right ahead, if that's what you want to do. I applaud you for having that courage! Just make sure it's at a good time," Konan warned. Sasori nodded. Yeah, he thought, that would be easy enough.

How wrong he was. At that moment Kakuzu ran past Konan's room, straight to Leader's."Kakuzu?"

The pair entered the hall, looking to where the masked ninja had run. The door at the end of the hall was ajar, and hushed voices were conversing inside; Leader emerged into the hall and rushed past them without a word. Kakuzu came out, slower.

"What's happening?" Konan asked, worried. What was going on?

"Zero found the body of one of Orochimaru's henchmen. We don't know if there are others or just that one, but Zero said she smelled Leaf Ninja around the area. I think they've found us," he solemnly reported.

"Found us?" Sasori swore. What was with everybody targeting this stupid house lately? "What do we-,"

"ZERO!"

The raised voice of Pein, highly uncharacteristic, sent chills through the three standing there, and it wasn't long before they tore out of the house and to him. "What's going on?" Konan asked, panicked. Pein was clutching an arm, staring into the dark woods with his teeth clenched.

Konan rushed to him and moved his hand, revealing a kunai wound. "They took me by surprise; they took Zero," he growled. Tearing off some clothe from her robes, Konan wrapped his arm in a makeshift bandage. "Sasori, go after them. Track them. But don't try and take them on; just find out their intentions. Then come back."

Sasori nodded; he took off without any questions.

**Zero**

I cursed, loudly.

"Quiet!" One of the ninja- Genma?- commanded.

I growled, threatening to bite him as he raised a gag to my face. "No!" I protested. (To be completely honest, it sounded rather childish x) "Lemme go!" I tried to throw a punch but stupid Mr. Raidou caught my arm. He then proceeded to tie them together.

"Do you want to get back to Konoha or not?" Genma snapped.

"Not really!"

"I don't believe you!"

"Well I don't like you!"

"Zero!"

"Genma!"

He stuffed the gag in my mouth and I glared at him. It was about all I could do. "Good, now that you've shut up I can explain the situation." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "You've been 'missing' from Konoha for months, and even though we all knew you ran off to join the Akatsuki Tsunade kept that your status out of kindness. We're here to give you a choice."

"You can either be welcomed back into Konoha as a hero that survived the Akatsuki's torment and will continue to fight them, or you can be welcomed back as a criminal," Raidou explained, much more calmly than his companion.

"That's right. So what do you choose?"

I stared at him blankly. I had a gag in my mouth, how could I answer…?

"Uh, Genma… Her gag…"

Angry because he was embarrassed, Genma roughly snatched it out of my mouth.

"You're a lot touchier than I remember," I told him matter-of-factly. He grew red in the face. Threateningly, he raised his fist to hit me. Thankfully, Raidou stepped in.

"His girlfriend just broke up with him yesterday," Raidou explained. I don't know what had happened, but Raidou seemed a lot friendlier than when I had seen him at the Konoha Main Gate. "You'll have to excuse him."

"Oh! Who was his girlfriend?"

"Shizune." Genma's mouth dropped open in surprise at his friend. I did my best not to laugh at his expression.

"Well, tell him I'm sorry to hear that." It seemed so odd an idea to me that Shizune would even date.

"She's sorry to hear about your girlfriend," he told Genma. The normally calm ninja looked like he was about to yell at his friend, but then stormed off into the night. His curses drifted back to our years. "Sorry about that."

I grinned at Raidou. "You're more talkative than I remember," I told him. And I stood by what I had said earlier; his scar didn't mar his face. He was rather good-looking. I was glad he was going to be doing the negotiating rather than the hot-headed Genma.

He shrugged. "Genma got me out into the dating world; it's much easier to talk to girls now." He smiled shyly, just like he had before. "But talking to really cute ones is still a bit tough." Then he winked.

I laughed. "You pull off the shy-guy well. It works- your adorableness grows exponentially."

He returned my friendly demeanor and leaned against a tree, striking up a conversation as if we were great friends; except for the hints he dropped, suggesting that we should get together. I didn't really think much of it, though. Liam was too close of a memory. It would probably be a long while before I was ready to date again- if ever. But Raidou was getting into it- I was beginning to doubt that it was joking matter.

But I let him continue. He was giving away valuable information; it was obvious he thought he was going to convince me to return to Konoha. Already he had explained Tsunade's entire plan. A battalion of ninja were going to attempt to take down the Akatsuki permanently and rescue Sakura. And it would be in ten days.

**In the Bushes**

Sasori's chest smarted in jealousy. He didn't like the scarred ninja standing over Zero in a flirtatious manner. And he didn't like the fact that Zero seemed to be responding so well to it; poor Sasori was convinced that she was willing to date this Leaf Ninja. But he forced his emotions down and crept forward to listen.

"So, what do you think of our proposition?" the ninja asked, sliding his back down the tree to sit next to her. Too close.

Zero shook her head. "I… No. Sorry, but the Akatsuki are not bad people; they've been more hospitable than Konoha ever has." That warmed Sasori's stomach. Did she really think that? He had a chance!

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I can't help but think that maybe you were just hanging out with the wrong people?" When Zero didn't answer he leaned closer. "Maybe this will change your mind." He kissed her. Sasori could stay back any longer- he burst forth from the bushes and attacked, going all out.

* * *

><p>I couldn't believe the nerve of this guy- I was trying to pull away but he was too persistent. Well, I had been right. He had been getting to serious. Then I rolled onto my back, lashing out with my foot; I caught him full in the face, making him yelp in surprise. "Liam was such a better kisser!" I growled at him.<p>

And then it was my turn to yelp in surprise. Not three feet away was Sasori, throwing kunai and using a puppet to pin Raidou against a tree. Apparently the puppet was dispensable, because he picked me up and ran, leaving the puppet behind. Once a good distance away, he dropped me.

"Thanks, Sasori-," He wasn't listening. The red head was prowling around, glaring in every direction. Too frightened to say anything, I did my best to saw off the rope around my hands. Once successful, I got to my feet. "Sasori, what are you doing?" His behavior was frightening me.

"What?" he snapped.

I jumped. But I wouldn't let his mood deter me. "What's going on? Why are you so angry?" He stopped, looking me full in the face; I'll admit I wasn't entirely prepared for the emotion I saw. "Sasori?"

"I wanted to do that to you."

My mind flashed to kidnapping, but after a few frightened seconds I figured that was probably not what he meant. "The kiss?" He nodded. I honestly didn't know what to say. My mouth wouldn't work- he looked so dejected. :(

"I want to date you."

"I… uh…" What was I supposed to say? I began panicking; I was so inexperienced with these sort of things! HALP!

Without warning, he stepped forward and captured my lips with his. I didn't know what to do, once again. But I'll admit it. I practically melted into the kiss. All thoughts of Liam were washed away, until Sasori pulled away from me; he looked about as startled at his action as I had been. "I, uh…" I cleared my throat. "Wow."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "That was too forward of-," I cut him off with a kiss, just as passionate as the last one. Then I pulled away, not sure what to say. Slowly, his mouth turned upwards into a happy smile, practically glowing and lighting up the night. "Well, alright. Maybe not."

I rubbed my face with a hand, trying to hide my red, blushing cheeks. Gawd, what had happened to me? I was like a bumbling, blushing, school girl… So this is what girls felt around Sasuke… "Sorry," I said. Suddenly guilt washed over me; I was taking complete disregard of the vows I had made to Liam when I had married him.

"Don't be." He smiled kindly and touched my hand. I hesitantly let him take it in his, and then he led me back towards the base. Everything that had happened seemed a long way off.


	10. Ohu

**Thanks a bunch to Aimii0! :D Your reviews made me feel special and that my story was grand! I'll review your story. :) Hope you like this chapter! Yeah, the first chapter was short because it was the prologue. :P**

**I'm going to try and finish this by the end of the summer, just an fyi. I've noticed that if I leave a story too long I completely lose interest, and that doesn't seem fair to any reader :( I mean, what if J.R.R Tolkien or J.K. Rowling had lost interest half way through their series? So here we go; any critiques or ideas you have will be readily considered! :D**

**The Hokage's Tower**

Genma finished his report, his face mirroring Tsunade's. Both turned and glared at Raidou, who shrunk away in fear for his life. Tsunade stood. "Raidou, you cost us dearly. Genma, you should've stayed with Raidou; both of you made grave mistakes." It was Genma's turn to shrink away. "Both of you, dismissed. You have gate duty for the next six months as punishment."

They would've groaned, but the pair felt that they were getting off light from Tsunade's wrath. She wasn't known for her rewards. Slinking out, they shut the door behind them and left a tired, worn out Tsunade to her thoughts and plans. Honestly, she could care less about Zero right now. The werewolf had betrayed Konoha after, she was a missing nin now; however, she knew it would still be hard to pass any sort of judgement on Zero when the time came.

Oh, yes. It would come. The Hokage was determined to take down the Akatsuki so they could more effectively focus on dearer matters at hand, like Konoha's alliance with Suna. It had grown fairly thin. Somehow it had to be salvaged; perhaps sending them an Akatsuki or two would help? She had no doubt that the organization had commited crimes against every nation, not just Leaf.

But that brought her to thoughts about her next course of action. The Akatsuki needed to be dealt with. She had told Raidou and Genma to feed false information to whoever in the Akatsuki they could; hopefully Zero would take it seriously and report it. Tsunade hoped that if she doubled or tripled the time before she attacked, the Akatsuki would let their guard down, or maybe even distrust Zero.

Someone rapped on the door. Rubbing her eyes, Tsunade looked up and sighed, "Enter." To her surprise, it was Kakashi rather than Shizune that entered; his presence was calming.

"You're late for a meeting with the elders."

Oh, crap. Tsunade clenched her teeth and pushed past Kakashi, making a beeline for the Elder's Building. "SHIZUNE!" she shouted. Her assistant would have hell to pay.

**Akatsuki Base**

"You're dismissed. Thank you, Zero, Sasori." Both named ninja got up from their seats and bowed to Pein before exiting his office. They had just finished reporting the event with the Leaf Ninja for the third time; Pein wanted to make sure he missed no details.

Sasori reached for Zero's hand. "I'll protect you when the battle comes." Seven days from now. Zero absentmindedly nodded, not really hearing what he said; she was more focused on Raidou's behavior. It hadn't seemed natural. Who would flirt with a criminal? No sensible man. Well, that's at least how she felt; and those feelings led her to believe that something in what he had said was false. Something, but what?

"Are you alright?" Sasori asked, genuine concern lining his eyes.

Zero jumped, almost forgetting his presence. "Uh, yeah! Sorry, just thinking." She looked away from him, the awkwardness that had marked the past three days dripping over her again. While she found she really was attracted to Sasori, she felt guilty about the whole situation when not even a year ago she had been married.

Kakuzu averted his eyes as the pair walked past. It was odd for the group to get used to anyone dating within it; sure, Konan and Leader were, but it was sort of a constant. It'd be weird if they _weren't._ Itachi seemed to have the most trouble. Zero took advantage of it for her own amusement, making Sasori smile. Only Deidara and Konan seemed alright with it.

"Zero! Want to train?" Deidara inquired in excitement- Sasori had given them both the all-clear two days ago. Zero nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! See you outside!" The blonde took off. Zero was about to follow suit, but Sasori stopped her with his hand anchored to hers. She turned back to look at him. "Wha?"

"Hey, come here," he spoke, smiling. He pulled her close and kissed her, hand on her cheek. They broke away and he allowed the werewolf to run off in her usual excited manner. Sasori turned into his room to work puppets. About a day ago he had decided that he loved Zero, and he figured it was pretty much up to him to make sure she was happy. No matter the cost.

**Outside at the Lake**

"Clay me, blondie!" I shouted to Deidara. Scowling at his nickname, he threw a couple figurines to me. Recognizing my folly as he grinned maniacally, I dodged aside; good thing I did, because all of the five exploded where I had been standing.

"Ha!" he shouted. Then he rose on a clay bird, dropping by to pick me up. "Hop on!" I did. We took flight, gliding over the lake, letting the wind toss around us, breathing in the great scent of the outdoors. I lay back on the bird to watch the clouds go by. He did the same, and soon the bird slowed to a stop and we hung there peacefully.

"Good training, bro." I bro-fisted him. In reality we hadn't trained at all. He grinned.

Then he winked. "You and Danna, yeah?" I shoved him lightly, making his grin even bigger. "Getting some?"

"No," I protested.

He laughed. "Alright, whatever you say. The second you two start sleeping in the same bed you'll never hear the end of it," the blonde promised. I scowled. "So how did it happen?"

"You're such a girl."

"Hey!" A clay puppy bounded onto my chest, cutely revealing its little teeth in an adorable snarl. "He'll get you!"

"Daw, he's so cute!" I picked him up and cuddled my face to the puppy. His tail started to wag. "I'll call him Geoffrey, and he shall be my Geoffrey." Deidara snatched little Geoffrey out my hands and threw the poor, yapping puppy to its death; the poor thing exploded seconds later.

Deidara's expression sobered. "So what do you think the Leaf Nin will do next?"

I shook my head and closed my eyes. "I don't know. They'll attack, no doubt. And my guess is that they will go all out; we're a significant threat. Any reason they have to not kill us on sight probably isn't too promising for our future." The sun was warm, the breeze cool. They were conflicting, but they made the day as delightful as it was.

I opened my eyes to look at Deidara. He was pale. "I hope we can fight them off."

"I'm sure we can," I reassured him. He nodded, looking a bit more relieved but still pale. Reaching out, I touched my hand to his. This pyromaniac was more family than Sasuke had ever been- I couldn't let anything happen to him. We both closed our eyes and fell asleep there. It was a peaceful moment that I would never forget.

* * *

><p>"Zero." I shot up- where was I? I wasn't on the bird with Deidara, I was in a dark, cold, sandy place. Mountains rose up in front of me and dunes behind me; the formations behind me looked oddly familiar in the moonlight. (Don't ask me how a sand dune looks compared to another one, because I honestly couldn't tell you.) "Zero." Where was that voice coming from? My head whipped around in every direction.<p>

"Zero, here." My wild gaze came to rest on a figure in front of me. It hadn't been there before. I readied to turn into my wolf form; I had no idea what was going on. (That seems to be happening a lot lately.) "Zero, it's me."

I squinted, trying to pick out details in the shadowy figure. The moonlight conveniently moved or something, because a split-second I could pick out every detail of the man that had meant the world to me. "Liam!" I gasped. He smiled, almost a sad smile. "Oh, Liam, I've missed you so much," I whispered, lifting myself to my feet. I tried to move towards him.

"No, Zero. Stay where you are, you can't touch me. You have to let me go, you need to be where you are now. Rescue the people you love."

"I don't understand…" I couldn't help myself; I tried again to get close to him. But he moved; or rather, our distance stayed the same without him moving a muscle. "William…"

"Look around Zero. You'll find your allies here." And then he was gone. I felt a pain in my chest, the agony of his death reawakening. Growling and forcing it away, I whipped around and stormed away from the field, towards the familiar dunes. I didn't understand his message. What allies did I need?

Then sand picked up, whirling around me as if meaning to conceal me or the world. I wasn't sure which. Something was familiar about that too- where had I seen something like that before?

And then the vision was gone. I awoke on Deidara's bird, pink from the sun and Deidara bright red. "Aah! Deidara! Wake up!" He started awake.

"What's- ow!"

I bit back a laugh. "We fell asleep, lobster."

He groaned. "Oh, no. I had just recovered from my wound…"

"Can I call you Pinky now?"

"Shut up!"

**Hokage's Office**

Tsunade breathed out. "We'll attack in four days instead," she told Kakashi and Shizune. "The elders think waiting will be a dangerous gamble. And they wouldn't let me argue." She shook her head. "Kakashi, assemble three shinobi for every member of the Akatsuki, you will lead them into battle. You will meet here two days from now. Go."

**Akatsuki Base**

I plucked at my guitar strings aimlessly. My head was resting on its body and I felt as if I could fall asleep right then and there in my room. Slowly, my eyes drooped. I was beginning to nod off. A rap on my door forced me to wake up. "Enerr," I rasped, the cleared my throat and firmly stated, "Come on in."

The door opened to reveal Itachi. I smiled. I hadn't talked to him in a while, and in complete honesty I hadn't really been expecting him. Sasori was more likely to be in my room. "Zero," he greeted. Then he stopped, looking incredibly awkward.

"Yes, Itachi?" I prompted.

He took a deep breath. "Do you remember your mother?" He fixed me with a serious gaze.

"Not really," I slowly responded. "She died during childbirth." I didn't understand where all of this was going; this was one of the last things I had ever expected to discuss with Itachi. After all, what pertinence did it hold to us now?

"Do you know where she came from?" I shook my head. He shuffled papers in his hands- I hadn't noticed them until now. "I've been doing some research," Itachi told me. He held out a paper.

Setting my guitar down, I took it from his hands into my own and opened them apprehensively. What was this all about? Upon opening it I figured it out. "Miss Tadai Rosewind, a Soldier of Ohu… Married to Akame Uchiha on August 17th… Mother of one daughter, Miss Zero Uchiha… Allegedly murdered by Danzo." I folded the paper back up. "Mom was…" Ohu? I'd never heard of it before… "What's an Ohu?"

"Ohu's location is unknown. But it is rumored to be the home of a wild pack of fierce and loyal dogs; the Inuzuka Clan apparently got their first partners from there." He took the paper away, then handed me a different one. "Read this."

I took a second paper from him; it was yellowed and wrinkled. My eyes slowly roamed down it. They widened with each sentence I read, "Tadai Rosewind… now Tadai Uchiha… seen turning into a child-eating wolf, as reported to the public. She was also reported as extremely danger, kill on sight…" I held back a growl. "She is a threat to my potential to become Hokage, so I feel no loss at her death. But I will keep a close eye on her daughter, who resembles the woman in more ways than the father. At the first sign of a threat she will die. As her mother did. Signed, Danzo…" I crumpled the paper in my hand and threw it across the room.

Itachi put a hand on my back. "I'm sorry," he comforted.

I looked out the window, barely containing my fury. My mother had been killed and the same man was merely waiting, watching, to see if I needed to be killed. "It's not your fault," I growled. Something pressed against my cheek, and I looked down to see another paper. Taking it, Itachi left me to read it alone. So I did.

Five minutes later, I was shocked. So apparently the Third Hokage was a master detective or something, because he had found Ohu, smack dab in the middle of Suna's territory; and I guess he had figured out that the natives had dispersed. They were able to disguise themselves as humans and live among them. So there was a very strong chance that I was half-Suna and that a good chunk of their population was made up of wolves and dogs. Oh, my.

I shook my head like a dog. All this was disorienting. None of this really meant much for the me now, but it explained everything about how me came to be. Another knock on the door announced Sasori. He came in and sat down, looking into my eyes, scrutinizing me; he was waiting for some sort of sign for something.

He announced suddenly, "Sakura has joined our side. She's healing Hidan right now; she'll be down soon. She wants to speak with you."

I jumped to my feet. "Really!?" There was no containing my excitement. Sasori smiled and stood, pulling me close in order to embrace me.

"Yes," he breathed. At first I felt the familiar guilt, but it was pushed aside by contentment as he gently kissed my cheek. "I love it when you get excited like that." I blushed and attempted to push him away, trying to hide my face. But it only increased his amusement and grip. "I'll leave you then. Oh, and you have guard duty tonight," the red-head told me. He kissed me once more.

"Ahem."

A voice at the door made us spring apart. Sakura stood there, eyebrow raised in question as I shooed Sasori away. He slipped by Sakura with a respectful nod. "Glad we gained another intelligent member."

"Deidara's smarter than you think," I called after him. He snorted. Then an awkward silence fell into the room. Well, for me. For Sakura she seemed to think of it more as a game, to see who spoke first. Her green eyes bore into my gold ones. I finally broke, "Uh, hullo, Sakura."

"Found some romance, I see. What about Liam?" She inquired coolly, and I could see that our relationship still needed to be repaired and strengthened. While most of my fellow ninja couldn't understand what had happened to make a werewolf settle down with a musician of all things, Team Seven had just accepted the fact and even taken a liking to the odd William Westra. My blush deepened.

I scratched my ear nervously. "I suppose… And I'm a bit too embarrassed to explain the important details," I declared, pointing to my red face. "You can't argue with that shade of red."

She cracked a smile. "Red as a tomato. You haven't changed as far as boys, Zero; you used to be like that around Liam, too. You and Hinata both." She shook her head in mock exasperation. Suddenly she sombered. "But I'm still mad at you."

I laughed. "Oh, c'mon! You just joined us; you're like my sister again! It's as if nothing happened," I offered. My choice in words was poor.

"Nothing happened?" she quietly repeated, rage evident on her face. I backed away. "Nothing? You dropped Konoha like a hot coal for a gang of criminals! How can you say that's nothing? How can you dismiss everything that happened with Liam? How can you say that when you, the last Uchiha, abandoned the Village you were raised in? You were the clan's last chance at redemption! "

"I'll come back later," Itachi spoke in his monotone from the doorway. Sakura jumped.

"S-sasuke?" she aqueaked.

Itachi shook his head. Then he pushed past her into my room, walking over to me. "I'd like those papers back; I'm presuming you agree that forging some copies would be looked highly upon?" I nodded in reply. He returned the curt gesture and prowled out of the room.

Sakura seemed too stunned to speak. "Zero, Itachi-,"

"Killed my clan? I know. But I also know my cousin; although I have nothing to go off of but a gut feeling, I don't believe he would have done such a thing without a legit reason," I snapped. I knew I had taken offense to something she hadn't voiced, but I didn't care. I would protect my family. The discovery of my mother's murder had reinforced that. "Besides, Konoha is only half of my ancestry. I technically only owe half my loyalty." Sakura blinked, not sure what to do with that knowledge.

Sakura wouldn't speak, so I snatched up my guitar and began to play it softly, turning my back on her and the complicated ninja world of loyalties. I found myself staring out my window. My mind wandered to my dream. Sand. Sand. Sand. Suna. My allies were in Suna- were they the Soldiers of Ohu? Excitement gripped my heart. But why was I going to need allies? I felt confident that we could fight off the Konoha Nin, no problem.

"Zero?" Sakura quietly questioned.

"Hmm?" I responded, not really listening. I was too busy pondering! :D

"Can I see your stomach wound?"

"I got the all-clear two days ago."

"By who?"

"A perfectly credible person."

"Was it Sasori?"

"…No."

"Let me see it, Zero."

"Why? I don't trust you when you're angry."

"Zero."

"…Fine."

**Hokage's Office**

"Great, Kakashi. You've chosen well, I don't think I could have done better- go, now. The sooner we rescue Sakura and defeat the Akatsuki the better. The ambassadors from Suna will be here in a few days."

"Yes, ma'am." Kakashi made a motion, and the impressive assembly of ninja moved as one. Gone.

Tsunade sighed. Hopefully this would be just one more thing off her list of things to do and kill.


End file.
